Caught in the Webs of Time
by Yesterday's Tonic
Summary: Sudden and severe magic imbalances leave both the Ronin Warriors and the Warlords completely unable to use their armors. They're open to attack - and that's exactly when a real live dragon appears in downtown Tokyo.
1. Prologue

_You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You've moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas, a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast a space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears, and the summit of his knowledge. You've just crossed over, this is the dimension of imagination._

**Prologue**

Dais ran a hand through his hair, scowling in frustration at the ceiling above him. He was having trouble sleeping and not for the first time lately. It seemed like every time he went to go to bed and get some rest, his body was tired but his mind would not shut up. With this being the case, he found himself counting, again and again, how many boards composed his ceiling and speculating on the boring life he currently had.

He had begun to feel that it was this all pervading boredom that prevented him from getting any proper sleep. Having lived and breathed battle for so long, this 'peace' he found himself a part of served only to annoy him. Not that he let his comrades enjoy it so much. No, Dais had plenty of pranks he played on them using his illusions to drive people into spasms all just to break the monotony of their days.

It probably didn't help him that he didn't take naturally to other people. His friendship with Cale was tenuous at best and more often than not, highly competitive. Taking advantage of this, Dais took to using his powers to pop out of no where or hang around when no one was aware of him just for the fun of it. The more he did this though, the more he realized he needed a real hobby. He hadn't needed Kayura to point it out, which she had, _emphatically._

More often then not, when Dais pulled one of his infamous stunts over on Cale, the normally quiet warlord would go into a rage like no one's business. This only served to entertain the Warlord of Illusion more. Being what he was, evading the Warlord of Darkness was something of a sport to him.

As an assassin by training, Dais had even tried that venue to break the dullness of his life but the hits he'd been offered were few and far between. There were several marked differenced between the world he'd grown up in and the world in which he now lived, the price of a man's head one of them. The hits were normally ridiculously easy and paid very little, to boot. If nothing else, it gave him an excuse for the occasional jaunt into the human world and he used them for that.

On this night he weighed the chances that he could get out of the palace to sneak into the mortal realm without Kayura noticing. They were very slim, of course, it seemed like even the always clever and resourceful Rajura couldn't pull the wool over that girl's eyes. It annoyed him to a certain extent but it also proved to be a challenge he looked forward to overcoming. Being able to thumb his nose at Kayura appealed to him and with this thought in mind, he sat up.

He yawned and stretched, pushing his unruly white hair out of his face. Reaching over, he plucked up his eye patch from nearby and slipped it on over his right eye. After making sure that his hair didn't interfere with how it was sitting, he stood up and padded to his closet. He pulled on the first article of clothing that he saw, not really caring what it was or how he looked. His illusions would conceal it once in the mortal realm any way. Finished dressing, he turned to head to his door.

His attempted midnight escapade was cut short when a sudden, sharp and painful clanging noise reverberated through the palace. Dais clamped his hands over his ears, grimacing as his eardrums would never be the same. 'That damn staff,' he thought, eye twitching. 'What is its problem now?' Not caring who heard him at this point, he wrenched open his door and moved quickly down the halls.

Cale, too, had been jerked from his own restless thoughts at the obnoxious chiming of the staff, his eyes scrunching closed as the peace and quiet of the night was shattered. Though he was by all appearances not nocturnal, he did nonetheless spend a great deal of time awake at night just enjoying the dark and silence of the palace. He growled as he sat up, wondering what on earth Kayura was doing at this hour of the morning. He'd have to give her a lesson on what time a prepubescent girl should be in bed, he thought as he stood up and stormed out of his room.

Sekhmet was the only one of the warlords present who had actually been asleep when the noise had begun. Needless to say, the man was none too pleased to have his rest interrupted by the stupid temperamental piece of museum decoration. Standing up, he dressed himself and without thinking, grabbed a sword and ran out to find out what all of the fuss was about.

Kayura, of all of them, had the rudest awakening. She had been sound asleep, content and comfortable – and dreaming. The important thing to remember about the girl is, just because she had a twelve year old's body didn't mean the girl had a twelve year old's mind. The contents of her dream, well, that was open to debate. Her face held a very happy smile and she was hugging her pillow _awfully _close. The only real clue to that might have been when she murmured under her breath, "Aw, Rowen you're so cute."

This came to a violent end as the staff, having been leaning in the corner quite securely, suddenly was flung down to the floor, the rings clashing and clanging. Kayura awoke with such a start that she instinctively chucked her pillow in the direction of the noise. She blinked as she realized it was the staff and rolled her eyes. Something _always_ happened to interrupt the good dreams, it felt like.

Her ears were still ringing even after it had stopped and grumbling, she threw back her covers and got up to pick up the damn thing. She grabbed the staff in one hand and her pillow in the other, just as her doors were slammed open with maelstrom force. She gave a shriek of astonishment and before the half asleep girl even took the time to assess who it was, she hurled her pillow like a projectile.

Cale caught the pillow, raising an eyebrow at her choice of weapon. It suddenly dawned on the Lady Ancient who she'd just inadvertently attacked with her bedding and she stood a bit awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

"Very threatening, Kay," Cale said dryly as he tossed it aside negligently.

She glowered and waved her staff ominously. "I'll show you _threatening,_" she promised.

"About that," Dais interrupted smoothly, before the two could get into another one of their 'married couple' fights, "What's the big idea, sending that horrible noise through the palace at this hour?"

"I didn't do it," she said indignantly. "I was _asleep_." Suddenly, something else seemed to occur to her and she gave a squeak of embarrassment at the three men in her doorway when she was wearing only her nightgown. "Get out of my room!_" _she said, jabbing the butt of her staff at them.

Sekhmet seemed to realize what had her upset and he snorted, "Relax, none of us are pedophiles. Or I'm not, at least. Young girls don't do it for me."

"Says you," snorted Cale. "I've never been too sure about you." He paused and said, "Sekhmet… why do you have your sword?"

"Ah…." Sekhmet looked a little embarrassed. "Habit?" he offered.

Cale snorted. "You probably _sleep_ with it," he said. "You need a woman, badly."

Kayura's red face went back to its normal color as she gave them all an evil look. This wasn't conversation she was interested in hearing. "Get _out_ of my **room**!"

Cale might have gone, but Dais had other ideas, paying the other two little mind. Something about this sudden occurrence bothered him, or maybe he was just hoping for excitement. "What made your staff do that, if you were asleep?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, this thing has a mind of its own." She paused and looked at it. "And that isn't a very settling thought at all."

"What do you think it was?" Cale asked, now looking alert.

Kayura was quiet for a few moments and then murmured, "It's a warning."


	2. Chapter one

_"God for you is where you sweep away all the mysteries of the world, all the challenges to our intelligence. You simply turn your mind off and say God did it."  
- Carl Sagan (1934-1996), __Contact_

**Chapter One**

"Rajura, where are you going?" Kayura poked her head out the door. Her blue eyes were narrowed in on the white haired man who was trying to sneakily open the door. Obviously he'd been trying to leave, but where to and to do what was what concerned the girl. He might not have been evil anymore but that didn't mean he wasn't a merciless prankster and to be observed carefully.

Dais' shoulders tensed as he realized he'd be caught and then he relaxed, doing a half turn to say casually, "I'm going out for a while. No need to worry, Kay." He opened the door the rest of the way and prepared to step out.

The Lady Ancient cocked a brow and halted him by asking, "What exactly are you going out to do, then?"

'Why does she have to ask so many questions?' he wondered irritably. "You know how you've been talking about the magic levels on the mortal plane being so out of whack lately? I'm going down to check it out." That wasn't entirely true but it would work well enough for her. After all, she _had_ told them that, a day or two after the staff had given them all an obnoxious early morning wake up call, when she had finally figured out what she thought had caused it.

"Oh, why wouldn't you just say so?" she rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "Stupid spider."

Dais twitched and held back a comment. Oddly enough, he did not want to have an encounter with Kayura's staff, which the girl had proven herself adept at using to clock Warlords around the head with. This being the case, he settled for getting the hell out of there while she wasn't looking. The simple truth to his departure was boredom. He needed new targets.

Outside the palace, he took a look at his traditional Japanese robes and considered how out of place they would look in the mortal realm. With a shrug, he used his illusionary powers to mask them and to any normal eyes, he was wearing average mortal clothing. However, that was entirely up to opinion. He thought they looked rather dashing on him, but oh, if only his eyes could have _seen._ Pleased with himself he teleported out.

Kayura had been very much preoccupied with the changes in the magic levels on the mortal realm. It seemed to him and Cale that every time they saw her lately, the Lady Ancient was deep in thought, a frown on her face. She'd also gotten unreasonably snappy, causing Cale to make the comment that she was finally hitting puberty. The other warlords could only stare as Kayura, nearby, didn't even seem to hear. They were grateful when after a few days of such peculiar behavior she finally sat them down and informed them of what was going on.

"The powers that fuel your armors and the armors of the five Ronins had begun to fluctuate dangerously within the past two months," she said. "It's always done it and I never really paid much attention but I guess it's been steadily getting worse because the staff," she indicated to the thing leaning in a nearby corner, "Started chiming out of no where. It didn't enact any spells, which is why I think it was more like a warning."

"A wake up call in more than one way," grumbled Sekhmet, who failed to see the humor in the irony.

"What does this mean?" Cale had asked, lounging back in his chair with his arms behind his head. "What would cause something like that?"

She gave a shrug. "I don't know, that's what worries me. I'm afraid, though, that if they waver too badly… the armors will cease to operate as their fuel evaporates."

"Which means we can't do anything if something comes up," Sekhmet surmised.

Kayura gave a nod, effectively communicating that what was going through their heads at that moment was the same thing in hers. They were sitting ducks. If some prick decided to pull a new stunt, they were helpless to stop him. None of them liked this thought and Cale looked slightly less comfortable as he pulled his arms down and crossed them in front of him, glowering at the floor.

"I doubt they'll stop working entirely," Kayura said. "We should be able to still do minor things, but it wouldn't be enough."

"So we're useless but we're still special," Dais noted dryly.

"Oh, you've always been _special_," Sekhmet commented, obviously meaning it in a very rude manner. A look from the woman served to quiet them down without anything further, though Dais' eye twitched subtly. He wasn't as up to par on modern slang as Sekhmet, but he got the idea that it was an insult.

That had been a week ago, approximately. It was hard for the warlord to keep track of time, but then he rarely bothered to try. It didn't matter to him if he was late or early and it didn't matter to anyone else much either since things tended to be slow in the Nether Realm. Painfully slow, in fact.

Now, though, he realized that he would have to. Being in modern day Japan meant time was vital. He walked down the crowded streets of Tokyo, not minding the odd looks he got. He was used to them, his white hair was rather unusual on its own but his eye patch only served to worsen the effect he had on people. It suited him though, because being able to bemuse people just by being seen was right up his alley.

Now, since he knew he was going to be here for a relatively long time, he had to set about finding employment and someplace to stay. He avidly disliked mornings and hated getting up and operating in the morning even more, so a night shift was the obvious choice. However, just where he could work a night shift he had yet to find out. He glanced around speculatively as he walked, taking in the signs that advertised various attractions and stores, wondering which ones would be open at night.

Inevitably, he walked towards the less polished end of the city during his tour. Inspiration struck as he laid eyes on a sign that advertised the bar and late night entertainment. Below it was an advertisement for the western music the band played but he barely noticed it. Already, the gears had begun to turn in his head and he walked in, wondering how one applied for a job.

Obviously the question would arise as to how a man, legally dead and alive where he should never have been, went about legally procuring employment and residence in said country. That was easily answered however. Kayura had gone to great pains to locate fake and yet very trustworthy documents for them, allowing them to get their identification, passports, driver's licenses and so on and so forth.

That didn't mean it was necessarily a _good idea _to put one of the warlords behind the wheel of a car, though. In fact, doing so would mean the inevitable demise of said automobile, a much banged up warlord, and casualties for whatever unfortunate passengers he happened to have with him. This being the case, Kayura had wisely taken their drivers licenses and replaced them with plain old ID cards, saying quite flatly that if they ever dared to get in a car and in front of the wheel, she would ham string them.

In the course of the next twenty minutes he was submitted to a brief interview with the bar tender, a man named Daisuke. By all appearances, the man really didn't care who Dais was or where he came from. If he could mix drinks and get them out in time then that was all that mattered. He was told that if he wanted the job, to come back that evening and work for a night. If all went smoothly, it was his. With an inclination of his head, Dais said that he would be there and then turned and walked out.

Daisuke watched the man leave the building, his eyebrows quirked together. There was something about that man. He couldn't put his finger on what it was but he was definitely different. His appearance was a bit odd, that was obvious, but it also had something to do with the way he spoke. Shrugging it off, he went back to polishing glasses. He had more important things to do than sit around and contemplate strangers.

Outside, Dais was again meandering down the street. He didn't have a particular destination in mind and he was taking his time and observing the atmosphere as he walked. He knew he would need to locate a place to live relatively soon but more important matters were to be taken care of first. Annoying mortals was fun to an extent but while he was down here, he may as well pause to check out the magic imbalances, something simple humans wouldn't have known existed if it blew up on their faces.

"Find anything?"

Dais didn't even turn his head at the voice; somehow he wasn't surprised that one of the other warlords had followed him down here. "Not yet, Cale."

Cale stood up from where he had been leaning against a building. "Well, I've got nothing better to do. I'll go with you." At least Cale had the sense to buy actual modern clothing, than walking around wearing his robes. Though with the man's odd fashion sense, he looked more like something out of a Jrock band.

Dais shrugged in response, as it really didn't matter to him. Cale fell into step beside him as he walked, looking around speculatively. The two men together probably more resembled something that had gotten separated from the circus than anything else, with the warlord's wild hair and the scar on his eye. He seemed to understand this and wasn't surprised when a little kid, probably about four, was staring at them with wide eyes. Her mother was reprimanding her for staring but she didn't notice or care. Cale was reminded of a bug. Throwing the girl a look that served to send her hiding behind her mom's legs, he continued on calmly.

Dais was hardly oblivious to this but he knew Cale well enough to know that the warlord did not pass up an opportunity to freak someone out. He didn't care what the other one did, just so long as he didn't impede Dais' own entertainment. They walked down the street without words being passed between them except for idle comments. Neither one were much for conversations.

Their quiet walk was interrupted as Dais paused between two skyscrapers. He wasn't sure what made him stop but something here just seemed off. Cale finally paused a few strides ahead as he realized that the other was no longer moving. "What is it?" he asked, glancing up to see what might have caught his attention.

It was a few moments before Dais responded. "I'm not sure," he said. "It feels like its worse here."

Cale turned and walked over to him. "You're right," he said as he stood beside him, able to tell that the normal strength he possessed had faded. Somehow it wasn't surprising that Dais was the one to pick up on it first. He was every bit as sensitive as the Ronin of Halo and sometimes Cale got the eerie feeling he was more sensitive than that even.

Dais was quiet for a few more moments and experimentally stepped backwards. The effects almost immediately lessened and upon moving forward again felt his strength sapped away. The two warlords looked at each other with confused expressions. Why was this section of street, that was barely three feet wide, the area where it was the most strongly affected?

Cale turned and stepped off the sidewalk, making his way across the street in a straight line. He followed it to the other side and sent Dais a nod. It stretched across the road, which was easily four lanes, plus the wide sidewalk. The warlord of illusion glanced between the two buildings, random companies and their businesses, and wondered why it was located here.

"Sir, is something wrong?"

Dais turned to the side to see a man from the building in question leaning out the door and looking at him oddly. He shook his head, "No, we're fine." Giving a wave to Cale, he motioned him to keep walking. It was time to relocate and think this over.

A few blocks down, they met up again outside a restaurant. Their lunch was spent in the farthest corner where they had the least chance of being overheard. Their conversation wouldn't have made much sense to an ordinary person either way, though. Cale was in the mean time displaying just how wolfish he could be when it came to the steak he'd ordered. Dais ate at a more reasonable pace, knowing he'd be laughing at Cale later when he had the hiccups.

"So what exactly could be causing something like this to occur?" Cale mused between bites. "I've heard of sinkholes before but not like this."

Dais was quiet for a moment before he said, "I would say that it is a spell doing it, sucking away the power to fuel something else, but spells wouldn't affect certain areas more than others, especially not in the way we witnessed."

"So we're at a dead end," Cale said, leaning back and pushing his empty plate back to take a swig of his drink.

"I wonder why it is that Japan in particular and Tokyo in specific are being targeted, though," Dais mused quietly. "Though she did mention that the imbalance supposedly stretches worldwide."

"I don't know. I'll lay it on Kayura and see what she says," Cale said, straightening up as the waiter came with their bill.

"You do that, I'm going to find an apartment." Dais paid his part of their bill and stood up, waving good bye to the other warlord as he walked out. Hands jammed into his pockets, he walked down the sidewalk, still mulling things over in his mind.

Cale in turn simply went into the bathroom and teleported out. He didn't feel like going and finding a secluded alley in this crowded city and the toilets worked just as well, considering they were empty. Kayura made a fuss about them using the abilities in public places but today she wasn't with him then so he didn't have to obey her. At least, that was his logic on the subject.

'Time to go clock in,' he thought as he allowed the shadows to absorb him. A few seconds later, there was absolutely no trace of him or any abnormal activity to be found.

------------

Adastreia sighed as she dumped her books onto her bed and flopped down to begin her homework. She had an essay to write that was due in two days and it was huge, so as usual she didn't have time for anything else. She'd been up since early this morning going to classes and had crashed late the night before after getting off work. She had the late shift at the local bar which sucked in combination to early classes. But somewhere between playing in the band and playing waitress to a bunch of old stinky Japanese men, she managed to earn enough yen to scrape her way through college. She had never been so grateful that she'd earned that scholarship.

Her jade eyes glanced over the directions wearily and she immediately knew that before she could even begin to work on it, she needed caffeine. Her mind simply would not work any more without it. In the kitchen, she rummaged around until she managed to find tea leaves to brew said beverage. Cursing, she made a note that she needed to set aside money for groceries. That was easier said than done, though.

An older woman walked out about this time, her attractive middle aged Asian face very different from Adastreia's obviously foreign appearance. Even though the younger woman had dyed her hair black she still stuck out like a sore thumb. She just wasn't built like the Japanese women.

"Hey mom," she said quietly as she blew on her hot tea to get it to be a drinkable temperature.

"Hey Addy," she said, flashing the girl a smile as she set her purse down on the counter top. Her skirts swished softly she moved around, preparing herself a snack before she left for work. "How was school?"

"Boring," Addy admitted, now sipping at the mug's contents, swinging her legs idly off the edge of the island in the kitchen that she was currently perched on.

Her mother, Natsuki, glanced back and gave a disparaging sigh. "How many times do I have to tell you not to sit on the counter? You're worse than a ten year old."

Addy didn't bother to get up at this comment. "I'm a ten year old that got bigger and meaner is why."

A few moments of quiet passed between them as her mother digested this. "Addy, you mustn't hold a grudge," she said, turning sad eyes to her daughter, knowing what the mood was about.

"How can I not?" she asked bitterly. "The traitorous, back stabbing, worthless abandoning scum…"

"_Addy,"_ Natsuki said sharply. "Don't talk about your father that way."

Addy glared at the floor in response. "He is _not _my father. My real parents only put me into an orphanage because they couldn't feed me and wanted me to have a better life. That jerk left us high and dry for no other reason than that he was bored. How can you defend that?"

Natsuki sighed. "Yes, you have a point." She was unwilling to let go of the years they'd been together and taken care of each other, unwilling to admit that the man she'd cared for had suddenly lost interest.

Addy sighed and swallowed the last of her tea. "I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean to yell. I'm going to finish my homework," she said, hopping down and padding out of the kitchen.

"Good luck," she said, as she watched her daughter leave, sadness in her dark eyes.

A loud knock on the door brought Natsuki from her worried thoughts and she walked over to open it. A smile broke over her perpetually worried face as she saw the young woman on the other side. "Hello Vicky," she said, moving aside to allow the girl in.

Victoria had long chestnut hair and gleaming cerulean eyes, her height was well above average for Japan as she stood five feet seven inches tall without shoes. She, much like Adastreia, was a foreigner. She bent down and gave the woman a hug, saying brightly, "Hey miss Naoko. Where's Addy?"

"In her room with her homework," Natsuki replied, returning the hug and stepping back. "If you're going in there, do you think you could help her? She's upset again."

Vicky rolled her eyes at this. "I didn't come to see Addy, I came to repair the loo," she said dramatically, causing the older woman to snort in amusement. "Of course I'll help her."

Natsuki picked up her purse from the counter and said, "Well, I have to get going, my shift starts in fifteen minutes. Have fun you two."

"We will. See you later," Vicky waved her friend's mom out the door. Once she had left, the blue eyed girl had a lidded look. "That woman gets on my _last _nerve," she said aloud, before walking out of the kitchen. She knew Natsuki meant well but sometimes she could be the most smothering parent in existence.

Adastreia was fully focused on her essay, her pen moving across the paper as she wrote. She had her earphones in and was listening to her music full blast, laying on her stomach with her legs in the air, idly kicking back and forth as she worked on her paper. Vicky snickered as she saw her friend's back to her and did what she did best. Sneaking up behind her unsuspecting target, Vicky launched herself into the air and landed on top of her.

"Ah!" Addy gave a startled gasp as she was flattened. She didn't need to look back or hear her speak to know who it was. "Vicky," she said in exasperation. "Nee-san, what are you up to?" They weren't blood related by any means, Addy and Vicky just considered each other close enough to be family. Being two foreignors in a country that was highly nationalistic, it was bound to happen.

"Giving my favorite imouto a cheerful reminder not to be such an emo," Vicky said brightly, then giving her 'little sister' a noogie.

"Ow!" whined Addy, trying to wiggle free. "Get off me you big lummox." Forcing herself upright, she sent her friend toppling off to the side where she could be subjected to Addy's reprimanding look. It might have been a lot more threatening if the girl hadn't been smiling.

"You're no fun," Vicky said, poking her.

"Oh yeah? Well take this!" Addy lunged over and began tickling her sister. She knew she had her here because Vicky was the most ticklish person in existence while nothing of the sort even began to affect Adastreia. Vicky gave shrieks of laughter as she tried to get free, shouting for her to quit. Only when she deemed that she'd been sufficiently repaid did Addy sit back and let her friend breathe. She just smirked and waved at her as Vicky glowered up indignantly.

After she'd calmed down, Vicky turned to the abandoned college homework. "What are you working on?"

"Essays," Addy made a face. "I have a ton of work to do."

Vicky leaned back and clapped her hands. "Chop chop, let's get this done," she said imperiously, smirking at the look she got from Addy.

"Bite me," she stuck her tongue out at her.

"Eh, I don't feel like bending over that far."

---------------

Dais wasn't sure why they wanted to test him this way. All they would have had to do was have him mix up a few drinks to make sure that he could do it, but no, they wanted a free night's work out of him before they hired him. He really didn't have any doubts about being hired for the job, if they didn't pick him though it wouldn't bother him much. He was sure there were a number of other bars in the city.

Now as the sun was beginning to set he walked into the bar, nodding in response to Daisuke's greeting. The next half hour was spent being told how things worked around the bar and how to operate the drink mixers. Dais listened patiently and then demonstrated how well he took directions as he prepared a daiquiri for a waiting customer without any problems. Daisuke gave him the thumbs up and left him to his own devices.

Dais had spent his day apartment hunting. It had been interesting to say the least. The variety of landlords and their reaction to him had been distraction all in itself. Some of them had told him to get lost, taking him as a hoodlum who would use the apartment as a flophouse for his fellows. He may not have been a hoodlum but the flophouse part probably wasn't so far off. Not when Sekhmet, Cale, and Kayura showed up anyway, which he expected to happen sooner or later. It didn't matter what name he called himself by or where he went, they always showed up, like a dysfunctional, psychotic family.

His eyes were pulled away from the drink he was mixing as he felt someone walk in. It wasn't just anyone though, something about the aura he felt coming off the girl made him pause to watch her walk across the floor. It wasn't normal, that was for certain but he couldn't put his finger down on it. Even if it hadn't been for the weird vibes coming off her, she still would have merited a second look. Her hair was black as pitch except at the roots were it was growing out as red as fire, her eyes were luminescent jade green and she moved with a feline grace. It wasn't so much that her body was attractive, it was just how she carried herself that drew his gaze, with her head held high.

Tearing his eyes away from her, he went and handed the drink to the patron, giving a smile and then glanced back around. He didn't see her again so he kept working, systematically passing out drinks as people and carrying on conversation as it was initiated. In the first half hour he'd already been asked about his eye patch five times, which had to be a new record. His response was brief as always.

"It's blind."

"So why do you wear an eye patch?" the man asked curiously.

"It freaked people out," he said with a shrug, moving on as the next person called him.

Addy carried her guitar out onto the stage and began setting up the amp, systematically going through her routine of establishing things for the evening. Vicky's drums were already set up, as was the keyboard for Miniko and Tsukina should be here soon too.

"You should get here sooner and you wouldn't run the chance of guys seeing down your shirt like that," said a teasing voice from beside her.

Addy looked up and gave the cute Asian girl a wan smile. Her shirt wasn't revealing anything, she wasn't one to dress like that. "Can't be helped, Miniko, schoolwork held me captive until the last minute."

"Aw, is it eating you alive again?" Miniko sighed. "I keep telling you to call me when you need help."

Addy waved her off. "It's not hard, it's just slow." She finished adjusting the dials on her amp and stood up, conducting a brief test. Nodding in her approval, she glanced around. "Now where are Vicky and Tsukina, I wonder?"

"Knowing those two," Miniko gave a long sigh and the girls shared a look. They didn't even need to say it. They were scoping the bar for hot men.

"You ever get the feeling…"

"That we're going to have white hair long before our time? Every day," Miniko gave a firm nod.

Addy glanced around and caught sight of the guy behind the counter, serving drinks. She blinked. "Looks like Daisuke finally found someone to fill the slot."

"That's a bloody miracle," Miniko turned to look for herself.

"He looks like he's a circus escapee," Addy commented, a snicker escaping. He definitely wasn't the typical Japanese man.

"Or some kind of whacko pirate wannabe," Miniko had her nose scrunched up. "What the hell is with his hair?"

Addy opened her mouth and then shut it, opening it again and then closing it just as swiftly. Finally she just blurted it out, "He must know Vicky and Tsukina."

This promptly sent her quiet and calm friend into hysterics. Laughing with Miniko, they got off the stage and went to clock in for the night and locate their friends. "That was a good one," Miniko was still chuckling.

"Every now and then I get lucky," Addy said in amusement as they came around to the bar to get into the back.

Dais glanced over just in time to see the girl he'd noticed before walk by. He'd seen her setting things up on stage and had assessed just as quickly that she worked here. A very small smile tugged at the corners of his lips at this. Good, it meant he could watch her more easily.

Addy in turn barely spared the man a glance on her way through. He was weird enough just by appearances and she didn't care to find out how quirky his personality might be. Then again Adastreia was an antisocial girl. The only reason she had the friends that she did was because of Vicky, who had forcefully dragged her out. Vicky had latched onto her the day they had met and that had been the official death of Adastreia's life on the sidelines.

"There you two are!" Vicky exclaimed as Miniko and Addy walked into the back.

"We were looking for you too," Miniko said and asked just to humor them, "So how many hot guys did you count tonight?"

Vicky groaned, "We're so low it isn't even funny. The nicest looking one is the one behind the counter, Dais, the new bartender."

"And I suppose you've already chatted him up?" Addy said in amusement as she clocked in and turned back to the others.

"I talked to him, yes," Vicky admitted. "But he's _not _my type. Oh well, at least he's eye candy."

Tsukina wrinkled her nose a bit, "I don't know, he's kind of… weird."

"Like a circus escapee?" Miniko offered.

She paused and then nodded, though it didn't fully cover what she felt. "Yeah, sort of."

"Come on, you," Vicky grabbed Addy's hand and towed her out, "Go say hello and introduce yourself."

"What?" Addy blinked in shock as she was shoved out by her sister. "_Why?_"

"You don't get out enough," was her simple response, giving her one last push and a look that meant she was not to be ignored.

Addy rolled her eyes in response to this and steeled herself for this. She was terrible at introductions and even worse when it involved a man. All she had to do, she reminded herself, was imagine him with a big red clown nose. Oddly enough she didn't find it very hard.

Tapping on his shoulder, she caught his attention. "Hello," she said, giving a slight bow in good Japanese fashion, "I'm Adastreia."

Dais had a small crooked smile on his face as he bowed back and then proceeded to take her hand. She blinked in shock as he lifted it up to kiss it instead of shaking it. Who did _that _any more? "Hello Adastreia," he said as he released her hand. "My name is Dais." He paused to add, "You smell nice."

Addy's eyebrows had officially made it to her hairline at this and she wondered what kind of drugs this guy did in his off time. "Oh-kay," she said, turning and beating it out of there. He blinked at this reaction. It was meant to be a compliment, as she did smell pleasant, something that reminded him of fruit. "Nice to know they're getting their employees out of the Creepy Bin," she muttered as she walked away. "And they wonder why I'm antisocial."

Dais' lip curled up into a grin at hearing this and he returned to his task. Ten minutes later, the members of the band, Adastreia, Victoria, Tsukina, and Miniko were climbing onto the stage. He'd been told the name of it was Gaijin, the Japanese word for foreigner, because that was the one thing the rag tag band members all had in common. He watched discreetly as they each went to their instrument, Victoria seating herself behind the drums and twirling her drumsticks in her hands, Addy slinging the guitar strap over her shoulder, Miniko taking her place behind her keyboard and Tsukina lifting up a violin.

He was pleasantly surprised when they started playing. They had nice rhythm and seemed to fit together well. Addy may not have been the best guitarist he'd heard but she had a melodic voice. 'Yes,' Dais thought to himself as he absently watched them play. 'I think this will be an interesting stay after all.'


	3. Chapter two

Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

"So what's the deal with creepy?" Addy jabbed her head in Dais' direction from where she was walking by Vicky, tray supported on one hand.

Vicky looked up from tabulating someone's bill and glanced over at the new bar tender. Giving a shrug, she said, "I don't know, Daisuke said he walked in off the street. He seems to be good at what he does."

"Creepiest dude I've _ever _met," Addy mumbled as she walked on by.

"Darling, you've barely had any interaction with people period, much less men," Vicky said with a laugh.

"Oh, stuff it nee-san," she said, giving her sister the middle finger.

Miniko grinned as she walked by, "Into incest now are you?"

Adastreia rolled her eyes. "You've been hanging out with Tsukina and Vicky too much."

"Hey," Tsukina had to throw in her two cents to say with her German accent, "It's not something you learn, it's something you're born with."

Addy patted her shoulder as she walked by, "Yes I know. That's why I've accepted that I can't fix you."

Tsukina pouted, "There's nothing wrong with me."

The dark haired girl waved her friend off, "No, just go do your job, Tsu."

Weaving her way through the tables, Adastreia carefully took orders and empty glasses and tankards before taking her laden tray back up to the bar. As she put the empties in to be washed, she glanced around for Daisuke. The man was nowhere to be seen and she scowled. It figured that he would take his break during the busiest part of the night.

"Need a hand?" Dais asked, pausing as he saw her quickly mixing up someone's gin and tonic.

"Nope," she said shortly, "Just do your job."

Dais' lips twitched at the corner and he walked over, glancing at the paper beside her and calmly filled two saki glasses for her. "Well, my job is to fill drink orders and since that's what _you _are doing at the moment, I'll help you," he said calmly.

Addy had a mildly annoyed look on her face at this. Something between his voice and his very presence irritated her. She snapped up the order slip and shoved it into her pocket, set the drinks on her tray with a thud and lifting it up, walked away without comment. Dais just looked amused as she turned on her heel and went out to deliver the orders to those who had requested them.

He had to wonder about her, she had unusually high barriers around her mind for a human. So much so that he only caught the briefest snatches of the condition of the girl behind them. In fact, from what he'd evaluated of the girls of her band, they all were unduly well protected. Daisuke's barriers were low and as of yet Dais had yet to encounter anyone else like these girls. He realized he was staring only as Adastreia paused, turned to look straight at him, and gave him the ugliest look he'd ever received. Chuckling at this, he turned back to the occupants of the bar and answered someone's summons.

Cale wandered into the bar, hands jammed in his pockets and looking bored. He really didn't favor these places and rarely frequented them, not being a very social person on a good day. He walked through the people milling around to the bar and pulled up a stool. Leaning over to locate the bar tender, one blue eyebrow rose as he saw Dais walking towards him. So this was where he'd been.

"What can I get for you?" the warlord of illusion inquired as smoothly as if he had no idea who Cale was.

"Just a beer," Cale shrugged and waited patiently as Dais filled the glass and set it down in front of him. "Found a job, I take it."

Dais nodded. "Did you find anything else?"

A brief shake of his head answered that question. "Sekhmet and Kayura are going to be coming down soon."

Dais' eye narrowed, "Why?"

Cale's expression indicated it wasn't something for public discussion. "I'll tell you later."

Dais nodded to this and wrote down the address to his apartment, handing it to Cale. "You can crash there if you want. My shift ends at twelve."

"Got any furniture yet?" Cale asked, smirking as Dais blinked. "I'll take that as a no. Oh well, it's not like sleeping on the floor is anything new."

"I hadn't gotten around to it yet," Dais shrugged, not really caring either way. "I guess I will sooner or later." His eyes wandered away from Cale to where Addy was standing, laughing and talking with Victoria and Cale was quick to catch this.

"We just got here and you've already got your next lay scoped out?" Cale rolled his eyes at the man.

Dais just shrugged again, "I find her a curiosity."

"Uh huh, which translates to…."

"I'll tell you later," Dais said, using Cale's words from earlier.

The warlord of darkness gave a nod and took a swig from his beer. He glanced over at the women and said, "Well, I'll give you credit, they're cute."

Dais snorted at this statement and went back to his duties. He thought they looked too skinny, like someone had taken them and stretched them a bit too hard. He also couldn't help but think that Addy would be a lot prettier if she'd smile once in a while, instead of frowning or scowling. Not that she didn't smile at all, just never in his direction which instead of annoying him, rather served to amuse him. The other girls so far had been friendly or at least polite but she made no bones about the fact that she didn't like him.

After another hour of waiting on tables, the girls reassembled up on the stage and each gravitated to their instruments. Cale looked interested as the blonde girl named Tsukina lifted up a violin and fit it under her chin, Miniko walked over to the keyboard, and Victoria flopped down at the drums. Addy slung her guitar strap over her shoulder and after flashing the crowd a smile, began the intro to their song.

Daisuke was walking by and Cale caught his attention by beckoning him over. "Where'd you find this band?" he asked curiously. They played well and it struck him as being too nice for this kind of environment.

The bar tender shrugged, "I can't say exactly, at first Adastreia just performed here on weekends to earn extra income and then as more performers showed up, they sort of just… banded together. They earned more money here together than separately, I guess."

For some reason, this struck Cale as odd but he nodded along with the bar man's story. He watched curiously as the little German girl, holding her violin out in one hand, bow in the other, danced around on the front of the stage. However, he put the girls from his mind and settled on just enjoying the music as he thought over his current problems. After a while, he finished his beer and standing up, waved to Dais before turning and leaving.

Sage stood in front of the door to Rowen's apartment and sighed. Here he was, the same as almost every other day, to drag Rowen out of his bed so that he would get to his classes on time. He very purposefully had arrived about three hours before they were due to begin because he knew from experience just how much of a trial this job was. This was his least favorite chore, hands down.

Pulling out his key from his pocket, Sage slipped it into the lock and let himself in. He bypassed the messy hallway and the living room that looked like a bomb had gone off to the bedroom where Rowen was laying, peacefully sawing logs. The swordsman would have grabbed the blankets and yanked them off but today the archer had kicked them all off. He had also abandoned his pillow and was curled up in the middle of the bed. Sage snickered at this; he would have to tell him he was picking up Ryo habits. He leaned over, preparing to give Rowen his traditional 'static shock' wakeup call but something made him stop.

Rowen was mumbling something under his breath and fidgeting in his sleep. Sage's eyes widened as he caught on to what the man was dreaming about and then he gave a loud groan. This noise failed to disturb the archer in any way and he said something else in his sleep which only served to disgust Sage even more. Having had enough, the blond man reached over and slapped Rowen hard across the face.

"The hell?!" Rowen cried out, jolting awake and staring at Sage.

His friend's eye was twitching, "If you're going to have R rated dreams about Kayura then at _least _do me the favor of not talking in your sleep!"

The archer stared and then very slowly began to flush red. "I was not!" he squawked.

Sage glowered, "Yes, you were."

Rowen paused to think on this and then said, "Wait, why were you listening in? Who'd have thought, Mr. Grace-and-courtesy, a voyeur."

"Says the pedophile," Sage snapped back irritably. "And I'm not a voyeur, I just have the misfortune of having very acute hearing. It didn't take five seconds to figure out what _you _were dreaming!"

"Hey, she was twelve _then,_" Rowen argued. "She couldn't be-"

Sage held a hand up, grimacing, "Don't even go there please. Now since you're kind enough to wake up, get out of bed and get moving, you have classes today."

Grumbling, Rowen sat up and swung his legs out of his bed. "Kill joy," he said, shuffling out to the kitchen to fill himself with enough green tea to run a small city.

"So what else is new?" Sage asked blandly as he followed. He glanced around the apartment and said, "Have you ever considered cleaning?"

Rowen glanced back and rolled his eyes. "Not all of us are obsessive compulsive neat freaks, Sage."

"No, this isn't about being obsessive compulsive," Sage corrected him. "This is about the health hazard your rotting socks pose to the environment and the danger of tripping on something on the way to the bathroom late at night."

"Wise ass," Rowen grumbled, sitting on the counter and munching on a pop tart.

"Again, old news," Sage replied, opening the fridge and rolling his eyes. "You really need to consider eating something with protein in it. If you don't manage your sugar, we'll lock you up and do it for you."

Rowen paused and cocked an eyebrow at his friend. "Since when did you take over Cye's job of mothering us?"

"Cye was too lenient, I'm going to kick your ass if you don't do what I say," the swordsman replied all too seriously.

The archer shot him a sideways glance and then shook his head, deciding he really didn't want to know. Sage had been very easily agitated lately and it caused his best friend some amount of worry. He wasn't sure what could affect Sage so much that his normal calm disinterested façade disappeared and wasn't sure he wanted to. Nonetheless, he was his friend and therefore posed the question.

"Sage," he said after a few minutes of quiet, looking over to where the blond man was drinking his own tea, "Is something on your mind?"

Glancing up, Sage quirked an eyebrow at the query. "Why do you ask?" he hedged.

Rowen tossed back the last of the contents of his cup and said, "You've been awfully irritated lately. It's not like you and…"

The swordsman gave a snort. "Now who's mothering?" he asked. "I'm fine."

"Sage," Rowen smirked slightly. "You're a terrible liar."

"Bite me."

Instead of saying something smart in return, Rowen was quick to comment, "See? That's just what I mean."

"I don't know," Sage said, "If I did, I'd tell you."

After a few minutes of silence between them, he asked quietly, "Have your headaches subsided any?"

The blond man shook his head. "No."

Rowen sighed, "You should go see Cye."

Sage's eyes flickered over to Rowen in mild annoyance and said, "It isn't Cye's job to treat our every ache and pain, Ro."

"It's not that," Rowen hopped off the counter and faced Sage seriously. "It could mean something more serious, with as chronic as they've become."

"Eh," Sage just shrugged indifferently. "I'll live. Well, now that you're up I need to get going."

"Sage," Rowen caught his attention, "If you don't talk to Cye then I will."

Sage glanced back from his way out of the kitchen and said only, "You have inspection in a week. You'd better start cleaning."

The archer snorted in response as he rummaged around for something more to eat. "Not like I care, it isn't my apartment, its dad's."

Shaking his head at his friend, Sage left and shut the door behind him, walking back down the hall he'd come through. Well, he wasn't going to have Rowen bumming off him. It was bad enough that he was currently sharing his apartment with Ryo. Any more live-ins and he swore he'd lose his mind.

Dais gave a sigh of relief as the clock finally said that his shift had finished. His feet were killing him; he didn't remember having to stand up this much since the days of serving Talpa. He gave a nod to Daisuke as he walked over, waiting to hear the verdict on how he had performed. He understood of course that he would have the job, because he was good at what he did, but with humans there was always a certain amount of doubt.

Daisuke, however, gave a smile and offered him his hand to shake. "You did a good job," he said, nodding. "You're hired. Come on back and I'll give you your schedule."

Dais gave a grateful nod and shook his hand. "Thank you."

Addy walked by with Vicky, Tsukina and Miniko, the girls happily taking off their waitress aprons and hanging them up in the back. "Yay!" Vicky cheered, bouncing around. "We're done! We're done! Finally!"

Miniko gave a weary shake of her head. "Where do you get all of that energy?" she wondered aloud as she grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder.

Tsukina chortled at this. "I don't want to know." She gave a yawn and stretched her arms up into the air before glancing over at Adastreia, who was quietly preparing to leave. "Hey Addy," she greeted her, giving her a hug, "What's wrong?"

Addy blinked and looked back at the blonde girl, whose gray eyes were wide with concern, her curly hair falling into her face as uncontrollable as ever. She gave a wry smile, "Nothing, Tsu. I'm just tired I guess."

Tsukina didn't look so sure about this but didn't pry. "Alright."

"Hey, guess what," Vicky bounced over, glomping the girls excitedly. "Daisuke hired that guy, Dais."

"Joy," Addy grumbled, her eyes half lidded and her tone of voice dripping sarcasm.

Vicky tutted at her sister's rude behavior. "Come on now, I know you're antisocial but do you have to be that rotten? You don't even know the guy."

"And I don't want to," Addy added calmly, brushing her friends off as she stood up. "I need to get home, girls. I'll see you tomorrow in class."

"Night Addy," Miniko waved. "If you need help with that essay, call me."

"I'll be alright. Good night." Addy waved to the others as she slung her purse over her shoulder and walked out the door into the cool evening air.

She'd worn pants today because while her work was within walking distance, she'd been in a hurry and had to pull her motorcycle out. Walking over to it now, she eyed the machine with dislike. It wasn't pretty, it didn't run well, and was altogether too loud for her tastes. Yet it was cheap, fuel efficient and provided transportation so she stuck with it. Tiredly, she swung her leg over it and jammed the key in the ignition, bringing the cranky beast to life.

Dais by now had his schedule written down and the paper stuffed in his pants pocket, walking the sidewalks to his apartment building. He opened the front door entrance to the building and waved to the landlord in passing as he walked by to the stairs. His apartment was on the second floor so he decided to skip the elevator and just walk. His feet may have been tired but he just didn't like the contraption.

Addy came to a halt at her door and gave a tired sigh as she dug through her purse for her key. She finally found it and its attached purple keyring sharpie at the very bottom and nabbed it, yanking it out and zipping her purse back shut. She put the key in the door and then stopped. She wasn't sure what made her pause when her hand was on the knob to open it and go in and she tilted her head to the side, listening.

He reached the top of the stairs and reached into his pocket for his key, frowning as he remembered he'd left the key with Cale. That meant he'd have to either get the other man to open the door or teleport in, considering that his comrade might not even be there. With what a night owl he was, there was no telling. Rounding the corner, hands in pockets, he paused as he saw the girl from the bar, key in the door knob and poised to enter, look up at him with no small amount of shock.

Adastreia blinked as Dais walked nearer, giving her a small smile. She immediately scowled. "What the hell? Are you following me now?"

He raised one eyebrow at this and if anything his smile turned into a bit of a smirk. "Now what makes you think you merit that kind of attention?" he asked, rather than just saying no, he lived here.

"Gee, the fact that you were staring at me half the night doesn't do much to reassure me," she snapped back. 'Damnit, now he knows where I live.'

He gave a disinterested shrug, turning to keep walking. "I live here," he told her boredly. Walking up to the door that was only three down from hers on the opposite side of the hall, he knocked loudly. "Cale, open up!"

She growled as she slammed her door open and kicked it shut behind her, locking it. She was really annoyed now. Glaring up at her ceiling, she said, "Whatever sentient being controls my fate, _this is not funny!"_

Dais had to stand and knock for another five minutes before the door finally was pulled open. Cale rolled his eyes at the other man's mildly annoyed expression and stepped aside for him to come in. "Welcome home darling," he said sarcastically.

Dais gave a snort as he walked by and shut the door, holding out his hand for the key which Cale dropped into his hand. "Now what was this you said about Kayura and Sekhmet coming?"

"Correction," came the familiar female voice as Kayura poked her head out of the kitchen. "We're here. And we took the liberty of buying food."

"Should I thank you?" Dais asked dryly as he walked in.

"Do it and we'll take you to the doctor to be treated for having delusions," Sekhmet replied.

"So, fill me in," Dais said as he leaned against the counter.

"Nah uh," Cale smirked, stealing the bag of chips from Sekhmet, "You fill us in first. What's this about these girls you're eyeballing?"

Kayura rolled her eyes as soon as she heard this and Sekhmet snorted. Dais ignored them and said, "I'm hardly doing it for the reasons you were, Cale."

"Aw, now you can't tell me you didn't notice their chests," Cale smirked.

Dais waved him off, "There are three reasons they've caught my attention and it's rather suspicious to me, especially with the weird behavior of the magic lately." He looked over at Kayura and said, "There's a band that plays in the bar I work at. Four girls, Adastreia, Miniko, Victoria, and Tsukina. They're not bad looking, I guess, but that isn't the point. Each one of them has startlingly high mental barriers; I can't even begin to penetrate them." The other blinked at this, now there was something you didn't hear every day. "The other thing is, the last attempt I made on Adastreia, I was forcefully thrown out."

Kayura was frowning and thinking on this. "What about their auras?" she asked, all too aware that the man could see them.

"Three of the girls have normal ones," he shrugged, "Victoria's is gold, Miniko's is lavender, Tsukina's is yellow. Adastreia's, on the other hand, is _silver." _

Cale straightened up and stared in surprise. Normally, a human's aura was closest in color to whatever element suited them. A neutral color like silver was unheard of. Even those of the other girls were more normal, they could relate to something of this world. They exchanged glances and frowned, thinking.

"There's more," Dais added with a slight smirk. "She lives here, about three doors down."

"That's definitely something to look into," Kayura said. "Since we're now stuck here."

Dais straightened up, "Say what?"

"The portals between the Nether Realm and the mortal realm have been becoming more and more difficult to traverse," Kayura told him. "They're shutting and locking. By tomorrow morning, there will be no getting back in."

"Why is this?"

"I can only say it must be a self preservative response to the fluctuating power levels," Kayura replied. "It's shutting itself off to prevent itself from being drained dry of all magic."

"It was either be stuck there with power but unable to help or being stuck here without power and still being unable to help," Sekhmet said. "We opted to stay here because at least this way we can grab some popcorn and watch the Ronins get toasted."

Kayura whacked his arm, "Sekhmet, don't talk like that."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot you've got a crush on Strata."

The man gave a yelp as the Lady Ancient's face went pink and she whacked him upside the head with her staff. "Shut UP!"

"Alright already," Sekhmet said, shielding himself from further blows.

Huffing, Kayura turned away from the autumn seasonal to Dais and said, "Now, I obviously can't wander around the city freely as a twelve year old."

"Why not?" Cale raised an eyebrow. "You have until now."

Kayura gave him a dirty look. "You know why, kids are severely limited in what they can do without arousing suspicion." She looked back to Dais, "So, make me an adult."

Cale snorted at this. "Make you an adult? Well, he can make you _seem _like you're an adult, but your childish personality might be a handicap…"

Kayura glared and whapped him upside the head. "Well?" she asked Dais pointedly.

Dais shrugged, "Sure, whatever you want." Walking over, he put his hands on her shoulders and closed his eyes to concentrate. About thirty seconds later, he opened them again and stepped back. "There you go," he said, lips twitching slightly.

Kayura grinned but paused as she saw that Cale had a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter and Sekhmet was sniggering, promptly dissolving into laughter. Immediately suspicious, she turned and walked to the bathroom to look in the mirror. A horrified shriek came out about three seconds later, causing the three warlords to collapse in hysterics.

Kayura was indeed an ancient lady when she came flying out, grabbing her staff. "RAJURA!" she shouted in frustration, swinging for his head.

Dais, still laughing, ducked her easily. "What? You said adult, you didn't say what age in specific!"

"You KNEW what I meant!" she said angrily, chasing him around. Gray-purple hair flying as the old lady lunged at him with vengeance.

"Dais," Sekhmet called, "Your mom needs to stop running, you remember what her doctor said about her heart!"

"NAAZA!" Kayura's staff swung back and she clocked the man in the head, "Fucking smart ass!"

Cale tutted, "Now, now, that kind of language from a lady of your age? _Really…" _

"I'm going to fucking kill you Dais!" she shouted, reaching for the summer seasonal's throat.

"But mom!" he whined, ducking and chortling at her fury, "Calm down, your heart!"

"My heart will be just fine once yours is in the stew pot!" Kayura shouted, wishing now that she still had her jitte.

Dais, still laughing, teased, "Oh, I get it, you wanted a pretty body so that you could catch Rowen's eye!"

As if the fire had really needed any fanning, Kayura was now fully prepared to shove her staff right up his ass. "Hold still you damn bug so I can step on you!"

He chortled at this, doing a back flip to avoid her swinging weapon. "I don't know why you're so worked up," he teased.

Twitching, she managed to jab him hard in the side and sent him toppling over. "Now, are you going to fix this or do you need to go to your grave early?"

Dais waved his hand at her dismissively. "You over react," he told her. "Of course I'll fix it, if you want to woo Rowen that's your own business –oof!" he grunted as she put a foot in his gut. "You have to let me get up, Kay," he reminded her, rolling his eyes.

"Fine," she snapped, letting him up.

Dais, it turned out, really didn't need her to tell her what she was wanting. Without her having to say anything further, he altered her body age significantly, placing her at twenty years of age. She looked in the mirror and grinned at the sight that met her eyes, a lithe and pretty young woman, basically Kayura plus eight years. She looked down at the simple black dress she was wearing and glanced back at Dais.

"Should I be concerned that you know what I like?"

Dais whistled innocently.


	4. Chapter three

Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

_Dais knew he was dreaming and yet the dream felt different. For one thing, he was in his apartment, with everything as normal looking as possible. He stood to his feet and looked around the apartment, blinking at the seemingly tranquil place. Cale, Kayura, and Sekhmet were asleep nearby. What was this? What was going on? _

_He stiffened suddenly as he felt a foreign presence. It was inside the apartment in his dream, moving towards him. Looking around, he couldn't see anything and for a moment, if he hadn't been in his dream, he might have actually summoned his subarmor. Why he felt so threatened, he wasn't sure._

"_Kuroda Jirougorou."_

_He blinked as he was addressed by his formal name – his real name. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been called that. Who would even know it that was actually alive? "What? Who is it?"_

_A blurry form appeared in front of him and though he strained his eyes, he couldn't make out who it was. What he could decipher, however, was a woman's form. She had huge black wings and what he thought to be horns sprouting from her shoulders. Her hair was jet black and hung straight down to her hips, her hands at her sides, holding sais. _

"_Kuroda Jirougorou, stay away from the girls," she warned him ominously._

_He frowned. "Why?" he challenged. "Who are you to tell me what to do?"_

_She held up one dangerously sharp sai and said, "Because if you don't, this will find a home right between your eyes." The figure vanished and Dais was left in stunned silence. _

Dais jolted awake, eyes darting around the apartment where all was normal. However shocked he may have been, he was by no means abandoning his interest in them. The fact that he had been warned off so pointedly merely showed that his instincts had been correct. Relaxing on his back, he put his hands behind his head and considered this.

Evidently his direct approaches to their minds had caught someone's attention and they hadn't been too grateful for his prying. He wondered who they were. For that matter, what did she have to do with these other young women and did she have anything to do with the problems that had brought them all to this mortal realm? If this presence was so rude to him, he paused to consider the fact that Adastreia openly disliked him.

'I wonder if she senses what I am,' he mused. 'Perhaps… we're some kind of threat.' With that last thought, he rolled over and made himself comfortable. He was still tired and could tell that he was in for a long day. However, he felt that he'd broken a record. He'd only arrived in the mortal plane yesterday and he was already getting death threats.

When daylight came, he was awoken very rudely by Sekhmet who had ripped open all of the curtains to allow light to stream into the room. Of all the ways to wake up, to Dais this was the most annoying. It meant he had to get up to go shut the curtains back again and he didn't want to move. He had come to find that standing on one's feet for a seven hour shift was quite exhaustive and it only served to perpetuate his nature – which was to lounge in bed as long as possible. Yanking the covers back over his head, he opted to just try and block out the sun. _Oh I hate mornings,_ he thought to himself grumpily.

"Oi!" came Kayura's annoyed voice from overhead. "Get up you two, we have things to be doing. You can't spend all day in bed!"

"Kay," Cale grumbled from under his pillow, "I work better at night. How about we take shifts?"

She reached down and swiped his pillow. "How about no?"

"Why not?" Cale asked now, having thought it an excellent compromise.

Sekhmet gave a grin at this opportunity. "Come on Cale, we all know you won't be scouting, you'll just be using your time to sneak off to brothels."

"Which I'm _not _paying for," Dais contributed now, sitting up and glowering at the other occupants of _his _apartment. This was a rather alarming sight, since Dais' version of bed hair was akin to having birds actively nesting in it. Even Kayura stared in shock. "_What?!" _he asked in annoyance.

"Uh, dude," Sekhmet started sniggering. "Go find a mirror. You look like you do cat's cradle with your own hair."

Dais gave an impatient snort and threw a pillow at Sekhmet, which didn't faze the other warlord at all. "This is my place, if you're not forgetting," he said irritably. "So if you piss me off too much you'll be sleeping on the streets."

"Or in a brothel," Kayura snorted, looking over at Cale in disgust.

"Aw, look, she's jealous!" Sekhmet cooed, bursting into maniacal laughter as Kayura shot him an evil look.

"Aw fuck no!" Cale made a face and then glared at Kayura as if that had been all her fault. "She's worse than a bitchy little sister."

"What was that?" she asked ominously, preparing to clonk him upside the head.

"It means he likes taking orders from you," Sekhmet said, grinning maniacally as Cale got up and now prepared to murder him. "He's shy! How cute!" he laughed as he smoothly evaded the other man's blows.

"Oh hell, not again," Dais muttered. He rolled over and curled up into a ball on his mat, pulling the blanket back over his head. He was determined to block them out at all costs.

"None of that!" Kayura said sharply and the next thing he knew, the blanket was yanked off. "Up, now, we have stuff to do. You two, quit trying to kill each other before I run you both through!" she barked over at Sekhmet and Cale, the former who was now making faces at the latter while evading all punishment.

An hour later by some unforeseen miracle, they managed to get cleaned up and out of the apartment to go on their rounds. Well, as clean as some of them ever got. Cale hadn't bothered to shave and looked quite scruffy as a result. When Kayura got after him about it, he replied that it was her own fault because he didn't want to end up cutting himself because of her antics about them taking too long. Dais did his own part by separating himself from them as soon as it was possible.

He came out just in time to watch curiously as the girl called Adastreia was securing her backpack to the back of her motorcycle and swinging onto it. She cast a careless glance around before she drove off but failed to notice Dais standing in the shadows of the exit. He was still trying to place the voice that he had heard in his dream last night and found himself eyeing her suspiciously. Again, the feeling of anticipation nagged at his senses relentlessly and he wondered what it was, just outside of his perception, that was tormenting him relentlessly concerning these young women.

"Daydreaming again?" Cale asked as he walked up behind him, running a hand through his hair and yawning.

"Hardly," Dais said, though he wasn't paying much mind to his companion. "I had an interesting dream last night," he commented as he stepped out of the building and onto the busy street.

"Oh?" Cale didn't sound very interested as he fell into stride beside him. "I had nice ones too."

"I said interesting," Dais added, "Not pornographic."

"Hey," Cale objected. "Those are the best kind."

Dais opened his mouth and shut it, deciding not to comment about that after all. Cale was a dog, he was entitled to be disgusting. Dais was just as bad, but he generally didn't let it show in an outright way. "Anyway," he said now, "The point is it would appear that we're being warned off from the girls."

Cale looked over in surprise. "Say what now?"

"I'm already getting death threats for sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong," Dais explained as he lit up his cigarette and took a drag gratefully.

Cale glanced over at him. "People really just don't like you."

"I'm serious," he said in a mild voice, feeling better now as the nicotine hit his blood stream. "And it wasn't a person."

"Well then what was it?" the other was beginning to get annoyed with Dais' usual habits of being stingy with information. Knowing the spider, he was enjoying this.

"I really couldn't tell you," he shrugged. "Maybe she was a demon. Either way, I was told to stay away from the girls very bluntly or she'd be ramming her blade between my eyes. She was very sweet. Sounds like your type."

"How considerate," Cale said dryly. "Sounds like you're trying to hook me up with an older Kayura."

"Shit, you caught me."

"Hey Vicky, you doing anything tonight?"

Addy didn't look up from her textbook as she heard the all too familiar voice and felt the shadow over her. As usual, her sister was getting all kinds of attention from the nearby college guys. She was very popular, pretty, sweet and outgoing. It wasn't a surprise to her that she earned all of that extra affection from all nearby men.

"Yeah, I have to work," Vicky said politely. She may have been all those afore mentioned things but that didn't mean she dated randomly. Sure, the guys were all right for the most part but that didn't mean she was interested in any of them. She'd had her fair share of good times with them and had lost interest. "Addy's not busy, though are you dear?" she asked, directing attention to her dark haired friend.

Addy looked up and quirked an eyebrow at her and then at the blonde guy who looked over at her curiously. "Uh, Vicky," she said, unable to believe this, "We both know I work the same hours you do. Yes, I'm busy." Shaking her head at this logic, she went back to her book.

"She's just playing hard to get," Vicky whispered to the guy.

"Vicky," Miniko said in a reproving voice as she came over and sat down beside them, "Stop trying to be a matchmaker. You know Addy's a lesbian."

Addy set down her pen with a thump. "I'm a what?" she stared at them in astonishment.

"Well, you don't have any interest in guys so…" Tsukina trailed off, teasingly.

"You're one to talk," Addy muttered.

"Hey, at least I had a date to the senior prom," Tsukina objected. "You didn't even go."

"What's the point?" she asked somewhat bitterly, rolling her eyes. She didn't like being reminded of that night. The others didn't know it, but she had been planning to go – if it hadn't been for her father, she would have. Then she sighed, "Whatever, I'm not gay, I just don't have the time for guys."

The young man behind them watched this conversation with amusement. "It'd be a pity if you were," he told her now. "I think you'd break a lot of guy's hearts."

If it hadn't been a pen she was holding, she might have snapped it in half upon hearing this. Tsukina gave a nervous laugh, seeing the glint in her friend's eyes. "Addy, don't kill him. We really don't need the police after us."

Her eye twitched. "Can I at least amputate several limbs?" she asked then.

Before Tsukina could answer, their ethics professor walked into the room and called the class to order. The rest of the hour was spent listening to him lecture, after which the girls had to part ways to attend their various classes. Miniko had creative writing, Tsukina was in Graphic Design, Victoria in dance and Adastreia had music classes. They would meet back up in Performing Arts that afternoon though, which was their collective major.

Through the rest of the day, both the girls and the warlords went about their respective business. Though to Addy, the weird bartender was never far from her thoughts and to Dais, the strange girls and the ominous warning dwelled in his mind constantly. As they walked out of their last class for the day, she was still thinking about him. She wasn't sure why exactly she disliked him so strongly and it almost bothered her. She just knew that she didn't want him anywhere near her and yet she couldn't seem to prevent it.

"Addy?" Vicky said, waving a hand in front of her sister as they walked. "Earth to Addy?"

She jolted back to the present. "What is it?"

"What is on your mind?" Miniko looked mildly concerned. "You haven't said much all day. Not that this isn't unusual, it's just…"

"Your expression is worrisome," Tsukina noted.

She shrugged them off, "I'm just tired is all."

"You mean you're still not sleeping?" Miniko immediately looked concerned.

"Don't worry about me," Addy insisted, a bit overwhelmed by them. "I'm fine."

They looked like they were going to protest but Vicky subtly warned them off. She could tell it wasn't just exhaustion bothering her sister and her protective instincts made her want to demand who was bothering her so she could go make them pay. But she wasn't so badly behaved and knew Addy well enough that if it was worth fighting over, she'd have already done it.

However, none of the girls were aware of the fact that they were being watched as they left the school campus. Cold lavender eyes observed their exit carefully before turning and leaving in the opposite direction, having noted them and their apparent destination. Sage wasn't sure what caught his eyes about those girls but he couldn't seem to ignore them like he did the others. Maybe it was because they didn't fawn over him like the other girls, but he got the feeling that wasn't it.

"Oi, wait up!"

Sage paused as the familiar voice caused him to turn his head and glance back. "Hey Cye," he nodded to his teammate as the brown haired man jogged over to catch up with him.

"You march like a military officer," Cye teased as he approached now, backpack slung carelessly over one shoulder. "Where are you going in such a hurry? Surely your grandfather can wait a few extra moments."

"I'm sorry," Sage said, "I was just thinking."

"Oh? What's on your mind?" he asked as he settled into a leisurely walk beside him.

Sage glanced over at the other young man and shrugged his shoulders easily. "This and that," he said. "How was class?"

"Boring," Cye said cheerfully. "But tomorrow the professor might finally get to what we're _supposed _to be learning and quit telling anecdotes about the 'good old days.'"

The blond man snorted back a laugh at this. He envied Cye in many ways, one was how carefree and happy he was. So little to worry him, just places to be and things to do. The Torrent Ronin had graduated highschool ahead of any of them and begun college early, entering medicine and surprising them all. At the moment he was an actively operating general care physician and in classes to get his certificate to be a surgeon at long last.

On the other hand, other members of their team weren't doing so well. Ryo was a prime example of this. Ever since the fighting had stopped seemingly for good, the Wildfire Ronin couldn't seem to settle down to any one thing. His teammates jokingly associated it with his ADHD but it went deeper than that. Fighting really was all that Ryo felt he was good at and now with no practical use for this talent he was straggling behind the others in terms of financial success. At the moment he was jobless and unable to afford his own place, much less college, had dropped out and was currently bunking in Sage's apartment.

"Hey!" Cye's abrupt shout drew Sage from his thoughts. His vision reconnected to see Rowen perched cross legged on top of the school brick enclosure, book in lap. "Get down from there," Cye said as they walked up, reaching in vain to whack Rowen's knee.

Rowen looked up from the book in his lap and smirked as he saw the shorter man's attempts at whacking him. "They have growth hormones for that Cye," he said, grinning in triumph as Cye's eye began to twitch.

"Get down before the school security goes after you again," he said.

"Yes, yes," Rowen turned back to his book fully intent on ignoring him. "Go on home, mother's boy."

"That's IT!" Cye dropped his backpack and grabbing the edge of the wall, yanked himself up, now ready to kick Rowen off the wall by force since he'd made him mad.

Sage didn't have to hang around and watch to see where this was going to go. "Why don't you two just get a room already?" he asked in a bored tone as he walked on past them. He had things to do and watching them behave like Neanderthals was not on the list.

When he walked in the door at the dojo, he set his backpack aside and took off his shoes, moving from there to the back where he paid his respects to his grandfather and changed clothes for practice.

"You needn't do that today," came his grandfather's voice at this time. "There is someone I need to introduce you to."

"Yes, jii-sama," Sage said obediently. "May I ask who?"

"You know that you have been betrothed to the daughter of the Soga clan since you were five. It is high time you met her."

His shuttered eyes showed no change in emotion at this news. "Yes grandfather," he said, as obediently as ever.

"Addy, are you coming?" Tsukina looked back at the girl, eyebrow raised at her. Addy didn't seem to hear them. She was standing at the corner where they turned off the main street to walk to the bar and her eyes were fastened on the distance. "Addy?" she asked again, now becoming somewhat worried. The girl's behavior had been off all day and how she was acting now only served to concern her further. Walking over, she put her hand on her shoulder. "Adastreia, what's wrong?"

Her head snapped to the side and she jumped, completely startled. "What?" she asked, blinking at Tsukina now.

The blond sighed. "Addy, what's on your mind?"

Addy shook her head. "Nothing, I must have just spaced off for a minute. Come on, we're going to be late." Without waiting, she grabbed Tsukina's arm and led her off down the sidewalk and after the other girls.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked. "How much sleep have you been getting?"

"Enough," she replied evasively. "Don't make a big deal about this to Vicky, it isn't worth worrying over."

Tsukina eyed her in a way that said she thought otherwise but wasn't going to argue with it. She wasn't the type to push someone to do something they didn't want to, preferring just to live and let live as it were. If Addy didn't want sympathy or to talk about her problems, then that was her decision and she wouldn't press. That didn't mean that she didn't glance worriedly at Addy now as they caught up with the others.

"What were you guys doing?" Vicky asked, glancing back at them.

"Admiring the sunset," Adastreia answered as they walked up the steps to the back entrance of the bar.

Cale watched with some amount of interest as this went on. Leaning against a building in the steadily growing shadows, he observed the girls as they went by and though it could have been said that he was more curious about them for typical male reasons, that wasn't the case. His curiosity was now piqued, as Adastreia had stood and stared at the exact location that Dais had noticed the alteration in the magic. It could have been a coincidence for certain, but with what he had been told about them he didn't think so. When they rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, he considered following after them. However, he didn't feel inclined to meet with Kayura's staff for abandoning his watch so he just turned his eyes back to the seemingly invisible leak to wait for something to happen.

"Anything?" Kayura asked as she walked towards him.

He was quiet for a moment. "Maybe," he said at last. "It was… interesting anyway."

She looked a bit skeptical now. "Interesting in what way?" she asked him.

"Not the way you think," he snorted. "Those girls Dais was talking about came by here."

Kayura grimaced. "No, don't tell me. I don't want to know what you're thinking about them."

Now Cale looked impatient with her. "Would you listen to me?" he asked irritably. "I'm trying to tell you that the one, Addy, stopped and stared at the exact spot I'm standing here keeping an eye on. She was there for almost five minutes, didn't seem to hear anything that her friend said to her and nearly launched herself into orbit when the other girl put her hand on her shoulder."

Kayura frowned a bit at this. "There's no way this is just a coincidence," she murmured. "But what connection could a mortal girl have with this kind of thing?" She looked off in the direction of the leak, a pondering expression on her face. "Unless…." Her eyebrows knit together as her brain struggled to put two and two together, something just escaping her grasp. Something about the nature of the leak and this girl's aura. "Keep an eye on this, I'm going for a walk," Kayura informed Cale as she turned to leave in the direction she had come.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said dryly. "As evidently it's too much trouble to tell me what you're thinking."

It would have appeared that Kayura didn't hear him or else just ignored him, head down and now deep in thought. Something about all of this weighed heavily on her and she was beginning to think that it was time to go practice her meditation skills. Leaving the city, she went back to Dais' apartment to sit inside where it was quiet. The Ancient had been gone for a long time but it was time to see if she could get the monk to provide a little bit of guidance. Even if it only was in the form of some hopelessly confusing riddle.

The evening progressed normally for the most part. The girls waited tables and Dais worked at the bar, diligently as ever. Though the warlord kept a discreet eye on them he didn't bother them or attempt to interact with them. The most conversation he had with any of them was when Victoria dropped a glass and it shattered behind the bar.

"Don't worry about it," he said calmly as he moved to sweep it up.

"Here, let me take care of it," she protested. "I made the mess."

However, he waved her off with a congenial smile. "You have customers waiting and besides that, you're only wearing sandals. You don't need to be playing in broken glass." She looked ready to argue that but a glance back at the tables where the drinks were due made her curse and quickly moved to do as he'd suggested. He shook his head slightly at this, amused by her. Of all the girls, Vicky had made the best impression on him. She was outgoing and easy to talk to, making him at ease in this unfamiliar environment. He got the feeling that it was that way with everyone she met. It certainly didn't hurt anything that she was also cute, in a bright, almost childlike way.

He put the broom up and disposed of the glass before returning to his place behind the bar. Busying himself with polishing glasses as he waited for customers he only glanced up belatedly as he heard someone sit down.

"Hello," he said to Kayura as he set the glass down and turned to her.

She gave him a slightly tired smile. "I've got news," she said to him, beckoning him over.

"Oh?" he asked with interest as he moved closer, leaning across the bar. "What's up?"

Vicky came out from the back carrying a tray of drinks a few moments later and blinked as she saw the two at the bar, faces close in a quiet conversation. Immediately taking it the wrong way, she went off with the drinks which she handed off to the respective customers and then, tray still in hand, skipped to the other side of the bar to her sister. "Hey," she chirped as she came over. "Guess what!"

Addy looked up from where she was cleaning off a table. "What is it?" she asked.

"You're supposed to guess, not just ask," Vicky pointed out, disappointed that Addy wasn't playing along.

The dark haired girl gave a snort at this. "Alright, um… Dais quit?" she tried hopefully.

Vicky rolled her eyes. "No. Try again."

"Dais got fired?"

"No. He's on your mind a lot, isn't he?" Vicky asked with a wide grin. Addy blinked at this and then Vicky's grin got even wider. "Addy has a crush, Addy has a crush!" she chanted gleefully, glomping her sister. "I knew you had hormones somewhere in that body!"

"I – wah?!" Addy asked in disbelief, trying to wiggle out of her sister's grip. "I do not have a crush on that weirdo. What was your news?"

Her sister's grin failed to diminish. "Your crush already has a girlfriend. You should have moved faster."

There was silence to this before Addy slowly put her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Vicky," she said slowly. "You're very dear to me… but sometimes I want to throttle you. This is one of those times."

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger," she defended herself. "I can't help it if you're not the only one who liked him."

"Vicky," Addy said tersely. "That's not it."

The brunette blinked and tilted her head. "Then what is it?"

"I. Do. Not. Like. Him. Understand now?" Addy grit out.

Vicky just chuckled and patted her sister's head. "Those who deny it the loudest are the ones who are guilty. Well, I have to get back to work. Ja ne."

Addy ground her teeth together as her sister walked off merrily. "I'm going to murder him," she mumbled under her breath, turning back to the table which she began to polish as if this were all its fault. "Slowly and painfully, medieval torture style."


	5. Chapter four

Chapter Four

_"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."  
- __Sir Arthur Conan Doyle__ (1859-1930), __Sherlock Holmes_

**Chapter Four**

"Sekhmet!"

The green haired warlord looked up from what he was reading as he heard someone calling his name. Pulling the sucker out of his mouth, he raised one brow and inquired, "Yes?"

"Jeeze, where have you been all this week?" Kayura asked, hands on her hips as she glowered at him.

He gave a bored yawn and put the sucker back in his mouth, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up onto the table, turning back to the newspaper in his lap. "I found a job."

At first the girl could only stare and then demanded, "And that took you four days without any form of contact or showing back up?" There was a pause and then she added, "Have you even showered this week?"

"Yes," he said, rolling his eyes slightly since Kayura couldn't see it from where she was standing.. "Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean I didn't come back.. I just popped in when no one was around."

"Right." She was still looking at him oddly and then asked, "What made you get a job?"

"I'm not Cale, I'm not a slacker," Sekhmet replied.

"I resent that!" Cale contributed.

"Good for you," the venom warlord muttered. "I got a job because I intend to get my own place where I'm not subjected to living with the rest of you."

"And what's wrong with living with us, huh?" Kayura took offense to him.

He groaned. "I've lived with you for the last four hundred some odd years. I'm entitled to a change of atmosphere!"

"He has a point," Dais grumbled out, from where he was pulling another cigarette from his pack and lighting it. "Take a hint you bunch of leeches. I came here for a change of environment, not to live in the middle of a zoo with even less space than last time."

Kayura huffed and in her indignation, said, "Do you _have_ to smoke in here?"

Dais slowly and very deliberately took a long drag and then blew out the smoke, giving her a lidded look of pure boredom. Then he said, "It's my apartment. If you don't like it, get your own."

Kayura gave a disgruntled snort before turning back to Sekhmet. "You," she said to him, bringing him out of where he had been blissfully tuning them out again. "What are you doing for a job?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he replied ever so calmly, happily nursing his sucker and reading the daily crime report.

Now this really got her interest. "Try me," she said.

"No," he said.

Kayura blinked. "What?"

He looked up, now mildly annoyed. "I said no. Go bug someone else Kay, I'm reading."

She scowled and in two steps was beside him, snatching the newspaper out of his hands. Sekhmet paused and then rolled his eyes skyward, leaning back in his chair. "Really, I don't feel like telling you."

Cale gave a snort. "What? Did you get a job as a Chippendale's dancer?"

"No, that's where you're working and I do not want to be your costar," Sekhmet replied ever so smoothly.

Cale blinked as Kayura and Dais now looked at him strangely. "I'm not working there," he said. "What? Why are you not believing me?"

Kayura shook her head before turning back to Sekhmet. She was not going to let him get away without telling her. "Tell me!" she commanded.

"I have a better idea," he said, causing the woman to tilt her head curiously. "How about… I don't."

Now she gave an angry growl. "Sekhmet…." She trailed off warningly.

He yawned and took the stick from the sucker and tossed it into the bin a few feet away and pulled his feet off the table, stretching slightly. By all appearances he wasn't too intimidated by Kayura.. This didn't serve to quell the girl's rising temper either and the other two warlords were now just waiting for her to begin pounding him. "If you want to know," he said finally, standing up and putting his hands in the pocket of his jeans. He walked into the kitchen and adjusted the radio dial. "Turn this on around six tonight."

Kayura looked ready to throttle Sekhmet but paused in her advanced as Dais put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with on eyebrow raised. He was continuing to smoke leisurely and said, "Just let it go, Kay."

"Fine," she said. She wasn't quite done with Sekhmet for the day though. "So did you do _anything_ else for the entire last week besides look for a job?"

"You're over dramatizing this," Sekhmet was as calm as ever. "I wasn't gone for a week. And yeah, I did do some investigating, if that's what you want to know. I came across some… interesting tales, though I doubt there's any ground to them."

"Well?" Cale crossed his arms. "What did you hear?"

"Eager for the latest gossip, isn't he?" Sekhmet mused. "He's an old bitty now. He should go have tea and crumpets with Cye."

"Get to the point, Sekhmet," Kayura said in a businesslike tone.

"Fine, fine," he said. "Some people out on the countryside are going crazy about a rumor. I'm not sure who started it and I can't locate any specific witnesses…."

"Because you have such wonderful people skills," Dais snorted.

"Look who's talking," Sekhmet wasn't impressed with Dais' contribution. "But anyway, what I keep hearing is that in one of the villages west of Tokyo is that out in the woods some kind of… well, they described it to me like a shrine arch, but with doors. I was reminded in a very alarming way of Talpa's gates to the Nether realm." He thought for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, they went on to say that the gate opened up on its own and down the steps from it came a series of creatures, the most notable of which was Nekomata and Byakko."

"Two tailed demon cat and a white tiger," Cale mused. "Now, how do you suppose they picked those two creatures?"

Kayura shrugged. "Could just be zoo escapees, or the white tiger anyhow. Anything else could just be chalked up to too much imagination and a loose mouth. Hell, maybe it was White Blaze. Who's to say?"

Dais was looking thoughtful. "A gate…" he mused. "That came and went. Did they tell you how big it was?"

Sekhmet snorted. "Like with all rumors, the more people you ask the more variations you get. Some people said it was small and couldn't have reached the tops of the trees, others say it jutted out high above the forest as tall as Mount Fuji ."

"That's very unsettling," Cale admitted.

Kayura looked around at the warlords and realized all too well that they were all thinking the same thing. "Do you think Talpa really could be trying to make a comeback?" she asked them in disbelief.

Dais shrugged. "He can't really be killed, after all he is a demon. Hate and evil never truly vanishes. It's possible."

"There's something else, though," Sekhmet interrupted before they could get very far with this thought. "The archway these people were telling me about, no matter how other things varied, they always insisted that the gate was black in every aspect and facet. It doesn't ring right to be one of his gates. And besides, didn't the Nether Realm shut down?"

Kayura suddenly stiffened. "I should have stayed behind," she said now. "I don't know what could be going on in there without me. Just because it was getting harder and harder for us to get in and out doesn't mean it was _just _us it was behaving that way for.."

"That's true," murmured Cale.

"Well," Dais was smashing out his cigarette in the ash tray now and lighting another. "Let's not pull Talpa out of his grave, shall we? I don't think our armors would cease to function with his reemergence, especially since they're _his_ to begin with." He took a long drag before exhaling, the room now having a haze in the atmosphere.

Kayura nodded. "We'll just have to let this go until more information surfaces. I don't suppose anyone witnessed those animals after they came out of the gate?"

Sekhmet shook his head. "Only sketchy things that I doubt are true sightings, just things fabricated by over active imaginations and dark nights."

"That's right," Dais murmured, looking out the window at the darkening sky. "The dark of the moon is coming." He got some odd looks from the others for that one. Even Cale had one eyebrow raised, glancing sideways at Dais as if he'd spoken in Klingon.. He caught the odd looks and blinked. "What?"

"What did that have to do with anything we were talking about?" Sekhmet asked in bewilderment.

"What? What'd I say that was so weird?"

Kayura was shaking her head, "Dais, you are one weird bird."

Now the white haired warlord had a lidded look. "Look, just because you have blue hair doesn't mean you need to state the obvious for us."

"Hey," Cale said to Kayura, redirecting the conversation now. "What was it you were going off to find out about last night?"

"Hm?" Kayura blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, when you were acting all weird after I told you about that girl's behavior at the corner of the street," he replied.

"Oh," she nodded in remembrance now. "Well, I went to meditate and see if the Ancient would give me any clues about what's going on."

"Good luck," Sekhmet gave a snort.

"Oh, believe me, I knew my chances of getting anything helpful were zero but I tried anyway," she replied. "I got some kind of poem as a response. I don't know exactly what it means but…Here, I wrote it down for Dais." She was rummaging through her purse for the napkin she'd scribbled it on.

Cale glowered at Dais, "You mean you knew and you didn't tell us?"

Shrugging, he said, "I had other things on my mind. I forgot."

"Yeah, right," Cale rolled his eyes. "Other things being those girls at the bar you're eyeballing."

Dais had a lidded look upon hearing this but didn't bother to make a response. Cale was convinced he was watching them for a totally different reason than he was and well, he knew all too well that there was no changing his mind. He had been keeping a very close eye on them lately, though and warranted some of the teasing he was getting. Of course, the benefits from keeping an eye on four young women made up for this. His lips twitched into a secretive smirk.

Now Kayura pulled the napkin out and laid it on the table, smoothing it out as best as she could. "Here, you guys take a look at this and tell me what you think."

Cale walked over and looked down at it curiously and his brow was soon knitting together. "Yeah, the Ancient's just as helpful as ever, you know?"

_A tangled web is destiny, fate's strings playing tag,_

_An awful knot you can't conceive now needs untying._

_We're left to play as spiders amongst this tattered web,_

_Entangled in it are the souls of the misfortunate. _

_In stone and wood of fire and wind,_

_is born the plague upon time's end._

_Forgotten and lost to war and rage,_

_Upon us now the dawning age._

_Faster and faster beat the clocks on the soul,_

_Wound tighter and tighter, til the coil breaks._

_Wider gapes the chasm to the void,_

_Devouring our chances of survival._

_From the blackness of the chasm rises hope anew,_

_On wings of fire comes the dark faced reaper._

_Vengeance, a soul born of night and dawn,_

_Brings the tide to turn the times around. _

--

"Hey dude!" greeted a friendly voice over the receiver.

"'Ullo Kento," replied a man's thick British voice as Cye leaned back on his deck chair, text book in his lap. "How're you today?"

"I'm great," Kento replied, sounding as cheerful as ever. "What have you been up to lately? I haven't heard from you in weeks now."

Cye's lips twitched and he couldn't resist saying, "Oh, so you're calling me to see if you can drop by for lunch, is that it?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Are you offering?" Kento sounded hopeful.

Cye gaped. "You've _got_ to be joking!"

Kento chuckled. "No, well, it'd be great if you were but that isn't why I called."

Giving a sigh of relief, he relaxed once more. "Though I hate to say it, I really can't afford to feed you lunch old friend. What is it you need, then?"

"Hey, are you saying I eat too much?"

Cye rolled his eyes slightly. "Yeah, that and something called College plus…. Other things are keeping me pretty poor right now." He didn't want to confide in his friends that his mom had been a lot sicker lately and the hospitalization bills were piling up. They had other things to do; they didn't need his money worries to think about. Besides, in Cye's mind, telling them wouldn't do anything but turn five heads gray instead of one.

Kento chuckled and teased back, "Those hookers _are_ pretty expensive Cye. You might want to cut back on that addiction."

Cye blinked and then flushed bright pink. "Those _what?!"_

"Nothing, nothing, never mind," Kento said, or said as well as he could considering that he was now howling with laughter on the other end of the phone. "I was calling to see if you'd heard from Ryo lately."

Cye, who was still rubbing at his face from Kento's earlier remark, now frowned. "You haven't?" he asked in mild surprise. "When was the last time you talked to him?"

Kento thought for a few moments before replying, "Not in a month at least." There was a thinly muffled shout in the background before Kento was saying, "Hold on a second." Then he turned and shouted back, "I'LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE MA!"

Cye held the phone out away from his ear, wincing. His eardrums would never be the same now. It was a miracle, really, that anyone in the Faun family could hear. He had to wonder how that was possible. Of course, it did seem to him that Kento sometimes had problems hearing him but he also thought it was highly selective hearing.

"Back," Kento said cheerfully. "So have you seen him?"

Cye shook his head even though his friend couldn't see it. "No, I haven't heard a thing from him for the past four or five weeks. He'd been having trouble with work though and I know he had to drop out of college because he couldn't afford it anymore. Have you talked to Rowen or Sage?"

"Sage?" Kento gave a snort here. "What would ole Goldilocks have to do with our favorite little angsting ninja?"

Cye rubbed the point between his eyes. "Sage was trying to get Ryo to let him help pay for his classes but he wouldn't agree to it. You should call him."

"Ah, I don't have time to talk to fluff head," Kento said dismissively. "I've got to go, too, Ma's nagging at me to get off the phone and do the dishes."

"Right," Cye said. "I'll call Sage then. Have fun with dishes."

"Would you? Thanks, you're a pal," Kento was beaming through the phoneline.

"I'm a sucker is what I am," Cye mumbled and then said clearly, "Yeah, it's not a problem. Talk to you later."

"Thanks!" Kento said. "Bye."

When Cye hung up his cellphone, he frowned and debated whether to call Sage now or to do his homework. He weighed it back and forth for a few minutes and opted for homework. He really didn't need any more distractions. Then he turned off his cellphone just in case and went back to the essay he was writing.

--

"Turn the radio on, he says," Kayura was grumbling, standing beside the device. "He can't just tell us what he does, he just tells us to turn on the radio."

Cale interjected, "Makes me wonder what he's doing. He's going to get some kind of public service announcement? Is he wanted now?"

Dais sniggered, "He's off playing wannabe assassin."

"After seeing you, Sekhmet wouldn't want anything to do with that job," Kayura informed him.. "He can see as well as anyone else can how badly warped you are."

The summer seasonal had a lidded look as Cale sniggered in agreement. "Thanks Kayura, I love you too."

She made a face, "Ew, yuck, Cale can keep you."

Now the two men exchanged glances – and scooted away from each other. "Cooties," Cale shuddered.

"You have diseases," Dais made a face. "Lots of them."

Kayura rolled her eyes. "You two shut up before I duct tape you together and stuff you in the closet for an hour to make up." Dais twitched. Cale blanched. "Yeah, that's what I thought." Now she pushed the button on the radio, "After we've figured out what Sekhmet does, you two can go… do whatever you two creepies do."

Now Cale got an evil look on his face and turning to Dais, said, "Hm, think we can do what we did last night again? I liked it."

Dais slowly turned his head and looked at Cale like he had eight eyeballs. "Whatever you're talking about… no."

"Aw, please? Why not?" Dais failed, or perhaps didn't bother, to make a verbal response to this. He just gave his teammate a disgusted look. "Don't make me rape you!" Cale reached for Dais but the other warlord moved too quickly for this.

Cale gave a startled yelp as Dais grabbed his collar and as the warlord of illusion stood up, he dragged Cale off with him into another room. Kayura hardly paid any mind to this, she was tuning them out by now, something she did to maintain what was left of her own sanity. Dais was glaring at Cale now as he took his teammate off to the side to pummel him.

"Would you quit making an ass out of yourself?" Dais grit out, shaking Cale forcefully by his shoulders. "I'm liable to throw you out to find a place of your own _very_ soon!"

Cale was half laughing at how annoyed Dais was. "Does that mean you're threatening to break up with me?" Dais by this point had just about had his limit of Cale's taunting and brought his fist down on the other man's head, making the warlord of Darkness see stars and little fairies whirling around his head. "Ooooh, shiny and sparkly," Cale said woozily.

Dais snorted as he left Cale to wobble unsteadily and stood back, eyeing his handiwork with amusement. It made up for the annoying gay jokes that's had taken about enough of. However, suddenly Kayura's loud shriek from the kitchen area made him turn around and as he rushed in, blinked as he saw the completely disbelieving look on her face.

" OH NO WAY !" she shouted, making him wince. "THERE IS JUST NO WAY! Dais!" she beckoned him over, frantically. "Listen to this!"

Dais walked over now that he was fairly sure she was done shrieking and paused to listen, blinking as he heard the unmistakable drawl of none other than Sekhmet, coming out of the radio saying, "This is DJ Venom, bringing you the latest on traffic and after that we'll get around to what this bloody station should be doing which is playing music. Am I right? Of course I'm right!"

"This is CRAZY!" Kayura half shouted again. "Come on, how the hell did he get that job? What kind of drugs were they doing, or better yet, what did he put in their coffee?"

Cale came in now and like Dais, stood in disbelief at what he was hearing. Then Dais gave a snort, "DJ Venom? What kind of a tacky assed title is that? He couldn't have thought of anything more original?"

"Considering his kind of humor, it's fitting," Cale remarked dryly. "And I'm with Kayura. I'm finding out what he put in their coffee because I need some of it so I can get a job."

And sure enough, Sekhmet was now informing the masses about some drunk prick who'd had the insensitivity to go out, get drunk, and then steal someone's semi truck so he could smash through a bridge support and block off ten miles of freeway in either direction. Now of course, Dais couldn't resist the comment that was dying to be made. "He's probably the DJ that was formerly working at this station and Sekhmet set him up with disaster to get the job."

Cale snorted. "Hey, man, that's what I'd do. Sekhmet's too subtle for stuff like that."

Kayura and Dais looked at Cale in disbelief. "Sekhmet? Subtle? What planet have you been on all this time?" the girl asked.

"The wrong one," Dais muttered. "Sekhmet's about as subtle as a.. a…"

Cale didn't look impressed with their arguments and said, "You guys underestimate him. He's a snake, he's wily and sneaky as shit. Furthermore, the ass is far more clever than he even lets us realize." One could tell that the winter seasonal had been at the wrong end of several of Sekhmet's pranks, that were by and large blamed on Dais (who wouldn't deny it since they were good ones).

"Whatever," Kayura shrugged. "I'll wait and see what kind of disaster you have to cause in order to convince someone to hire you."

Cale blinked. "I'm not going to-"

"Sure you aren't," Dais cut him off sarcastically. "Just like you won't find a hooker tonight to keep yourself happy for a few hours."

Cale couldn't miss the opportunity and smirked, "What's the matter? Jealous?"

"Yeah," Dais said easily, causing them to stare at him. "I'm jealous of the fact that I used to be able to get enough sleep each night before you picked up that little habit of yours."

"Ah," Cale waved him off. "Find a girl, get laid, stop bitching at me. You're worse than a girl PMSing."

"And who's to say I haven't gotten laid?" Dais replied to be a smartass.

Cale smirked, "Well, unless you've been raping those girls you're stalking…."

"I wouldn't do that, that's sick," Dais replied hotly. "And I am not stalking them."

"Right. Just like you're not watching them shower when you can get the chance," Cale remarked..

Dais ever so slowly gave a grin. "I never said keeping an eye on the girls was boring, now did I?"

"Oh you two are disgusting," Kayura glowered. "So shut up or I'm going to knock your heads together!"

"Yes, mother," they said simultaneously, before glancing at each other evilly.


	6. Chapter five

**Chapter Five**

"Kayura, would you just _lay off?!"_

"No, not until you straighten up you asshole!"

"You're the one who's being an ass, would you just leave me alone for ONCE?"

"You wanna call me that again? I'll put you in your grave early!"

Dais gave a silent groan. Even with the pillow jammed over his head there was no blocking Kayura and Cale out. There never was. They were arguing about something stupid, just like always and he swore they sounded more like a married couple each day.

This was especially annoying because he was running on far too little sleep and he had work that night, more work than just his shift at the bar. Sekhmet wasn't around, he was off doing whatever it is Disk Jockeys do, and Dais didn't know and didn't care what that might be. However, good old Kayura and his sometimes-kind-of-sort-of-maybe friend Cale were here and weren't letting him forget it either.

His eye twitched as Kayura's high voice carried through the house like she was shouting, Cale's annoyed growls just as obvious to his keen ears. It was times like this that he hated how good his senses were and he found himself wishing for temporary deafness just to get some sleep.

The last straw for Dais' patience was when Kayura started the insult battle. He knew these two well enough to know that after the first two had been exchanged, it would run on for _hours_ and there was no way he was going to listen to it. With a frustrated snarl he shoved his pillow aside and flung back his blanket, getting up to go intervene. Of course, Dais' style of 'intervention' is highly debatable – but always effective.

He flung open the door to his room and with one loud, "SHUT _UP!"_ earned a surprised look from both Kayura and Cale, argument momentarily forgotten.

The blue haired warlord of darkness quirked one eyebrow at Dais, who's hair was in its usual state of complete disarray and his white chicken legs emphasized by the fact that he was only wearing his boxers. All in all, he was one scary assed sight, his one visible ice blue eye twitching rapidly and his fingers looking like they wanted to wrap around someone's throat and squeeze. "Nightmares again, Dais?" he inquired.

That was smart, antagonizing the warlord that happened to be too clever for his own good. "Yeah! You two happen to be one long living nightmare I can't fucking wake up from! You two need to SHUT UP so I can SLEEP!" he said in aggravation. "I don't care if all you have to do is go sightseeing, I have a job and moreover this is MY apartment! Be QUIET!"

Kayura was staring. She'd never seen the calm, cool warlord of illusion show a temper like that before. Cale just rolled his eyes and said, "Jeeze, how long has it been since you got laid? Sekhmet should be back soon, he'll make you feel better."

That was the last thing Dais wanted to hear and he reached over to the table and picked up his ashtray. "You see this?" he asked icily. "It makes a great Frisbee. Catch!" Then before Cale could react, he had thrown it and it flew true, hitting the target right smack in the forehead and breaking apart. Cale clattered to the floor and Dais showed no concern about him landing in broken glass. "It'd be nice to have ONE quiet night! Just ONE!" Dais ranted as he walked back to his room. Slamming the door shut behind him so hard the apartment shook, the picture on the wall above Cale's unconscious body trembled and fell, clonking the warlord on the head again just for good measure.

Kayura was tapping her lip thoughtfully. "I think he planned that," she nodded to herself. Cale had no permanent damage inflicted to him so she just ignored his current state on the floor and grabbed her shoes. She decided to walk around the city and see if she could observe anything. While she was by no means as sensitive as Dais or Sage, she was nonetheless observant and sharp witted. At any rate, she didn't have anything better to do.

Dais obviously needed his sleep and she wasn't going to stick around and prevent him from getting it. Honestly, he'd never blown up like that before and she'd known him under far more sleep deprived conditions. It was obvious to her that it was something more than that, making him as touchy as he'd become lately. Was it like Cale had said? Nightmares? She'd had her share of dreams about the awful things they'd done and knew that the warlords did as well. That didn't sound right to her though.

As she walked down the steps of the front door and out onto the street she put her hands into the pockets of her torn jeans and frowned up at the sky. Sekhmet and Cale seemed to be more on edge lately as well but perhaps it was only her being paranoid. Dais was far more sensitive than the others of his team, even if he himself didn't always understand what it was he was picking up on. Perhaps it was only because he was readjusting to how life operated outside the Nether Realm. Whatever it was, she put it from mind for the moment and took up her walk. Dais would hardly appreciate her concern.

Another thing occurred to her as she walked. She should start trying to locate the members of the Ronins, as she wanted to see if they'd picked up on anything being different and also needed to know how their armors were holding up. For some reason though, she didn't do it and didn't tell the warlords to find them either. Something kept holding her back and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

The four of them hadn't had any contact with the Ronin once they'd been freed from Talpa and she knew the reunion probably wouldn't be pretty. Perhaps she felt guilty. Maybe she didn't want to think of what kind of looks she might receive from them, however much they tried to forgive her or understand that it was in the past. As hard as her outside appeared to be and with as much of a warrior as she was, Kayura was still a human and still had emotions. She simply didn't want to be hated.

She'd intended to walk a few wards that day, having the feeling of needing the exercise and the solitary time to think didn't hurt either. She may have been in the middle of a huge city that was positively cram-packed with people but she was still alone in essence. This was where it didn't matter what emotion happened to be in her eyes or what thoughts ran through her mind because no one cared.

It shouldn't be taken that she'd grown into another whiny teenager, though. No, Kayura was quite mature and as a matter of fact, not to mention capable of handing four full grown men their asses without thinking twice about it. But as with every human in existence, these kinds of thoughts and emotions had to be taken out and handled on occasion, no matter how rare those occasions were.

She'd always done her best not to dwell on her life as it was. The age gap between her and the warlords made things harder just on a working level but when it boiled down to companionship, it was nonexistent. Quite bluntly, the girl was lonely and had been for a long time. Looking up at the sky where storm clouds were forming, she realized that she was glad for this new problem arising. Anything to get out of the Nether Realm; anything to break up her routine and give her something else to focus on.

Blinking now as raindrops began to fall and splatter on her upturned face in an unpleasantly cold way, she pushed the melancholy thoughts from her mind. How long had it been since she'd been caught in the rain? She didn't know but it brought a smile to her face. As the people around her hurried to get their umbrellas out before the clouds broke, she made no motion to duck inside one of the stores in the face of the coming downpour. Within a few moments thunder cracked and the next second the sprinkles grew to a full drenching rain. As the other people hurried to shelter or hid under their umbrellas, a blue haired young woman could be seen skipping merrily down the street, a huge smile on her face, now completely soaked.

Not far away, another head of blue hair was walking as fast as he could down the slippery wet sidewalk. Rowen was in a hurry, he didn't need to miss his appointment, he absolutely hated being late. Worse yet, he was getting drenched as he'd forgotten his umbrella. He'd woken up late because Sage hadn't been there to throw him out of bed, hadn't had enough tea because he'd forgotten to do his grocery shopping this week and now got a cold shower on top of everything else. This just really wasn't his day.

Rounding the corner with his head bent against the torrent of rain, he wasn't looking very closely at where he was going. The fact that he was as usual off in his thoughts and only dimly aware of his surroundings didn't help him. This is part of what could be blamed for what happened next, though it could just be blamed on his terrible luck. If he hadn't been an atheist he would have thought he'd managed to either superiorly piss off someone high up or else the Fates just had a really rotten sense of humor.

At any rate, when he walked around the corner, his foot stepped on a wet piece of newspaper that was laying on the step down and the next thing he knew he was falling face first towards the concrete. That isn't quite how it ended though. No, when he went to fall, none other than Kayura's bright cheerful face was there to greet him, a victim of bad timing. Or maybe it was good timing, from her point of view.

"Ooof!" she said, her cheerful walk down the sidewalk interrupted suddenly by someone wet and cold falling on her. They both went tumbling off to the side and her head hit the concrete, making her see stars. "Oww," she moaned out, wincing. That was going to give her a killer migraine.

"S-sorry," he said, at first not quite realizing what had happened. Then his eyes snapped wide open when something clicked into place. His pale cheeks flushed pink as he stared down at the girl he was practically smashing into the sidewalk. "I'm so sorry!" he squeaked, moving to get up but in his frantic scrambling, slipped again and fell right back down onto her.

"Jeezus," she whined, opening her eyes finally. Her head was already pounding. "Could you be any less graceful?" As her vision cleared, her eyes widened and her breath caught. _There's no way,_ she thought, staring at him. _What are the odds?_

"I'm sorry," Rowen yelped out, climbing off her just as fast as he could get his body to cooperate, especially considering how red faced and embarrassed he was. He looked like someone had painted him the color of Ryo's armor. He took her hands and helped her up. "I'm _really_ sorry!"

"Ah," Kayura swallowed, still blinking as he helped her up. This had to be some kind of hallucination. Maybe Dais was playing tricks on her again. "It's ok. It's my fault too, I'm sorry."

"Right, but really, I'm sorry," he ran a hand through his hair awkwardly, trying very hard not to stare. She was very nice looking and the fact that she was soaked to the skin didn't hurt anything. He flushed worse. "I, um, ought to get going," he said, moving from foot to foot anxiously. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," she said a bit dazedly. "Some advil and no problem."

"Good," he said. She seemed familiar but then Rowen was so terrible with faces and names that there was no telling. "Um, sorry again," he said. _God I need to get out of here,_ he knew he was blushing so badly there was probably steam coming out of his ears. "Have a good day," he said and then all but took off _running_ to get away.

Kayura blinked after him slowly. "That… was very weird," she remarked to no one in particular.

**--**

Rowen's day had officially gone from bad to worse, though now he wasn't mad about the cold rain anymore. It had actually come in handy. But now he was inside and though still damp, mostly dried off. That didn't mean that things were going well, oh no, far from it.

He'd taken up tutoring as a part time job and while normally he was decent at it, today he was having the hardest time focusing. His student was a ten year old boy who still thought girls had cooties and couldn't understand why his tutor kept stopping, flushing, rubbing his face and groaning. That and Rowen couldn't seem to speak today. His words kept slipping or his sentences left unfinished, adding words where they didn't belong or else just unable to pronounce something simple.

"Mr. Hashiba," the boy, named Hideki, asked in concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Rowen said quickly. This wasn't entirely true, of course and Hideki knew it.

"Are you sure? Maybe you have a fever. We have a thermometer-"

"Really, I'll be fine," Rowen said. _I just need a very long cold shower – and to kill Kento!_

He had a real bone to pick with the Ronin of Hardrock, the friend and teammate who'd felt the need to educate his more prudish teammates on the ways and wonders of the opposite sex. The man was impossible to shut up once he found something that aggravated or embarrassed one of them and of course, with Ryo just about dying and Rowen grinding his eyes out with his hands, Kento had thoroughly enjoyed himself. That had been one camping trip from hell, the whole thing. There simply was not enough Saki in the country to drown out Kento's explanations.

And now Rowen held him responsible for the things that kept popping into his mind unbidden. The thoughts that kept bringing about the flushing in his face he blamed entirely on him. One thing was for dead certain and that was that as soon as Rowen had a spare moment, Kento was getting a phone call.

He had no idea how he made it through that study session but he couldn't have been more grateful when it was over. He left that house as fast as he could and made it home in record time, jumping in for a long, ice cold shower. Fifteen minutes later, he was dialing Kento's number, grimace on his face.

"Hey Smurfy!" came Kento's bright greeting as he answered his cell.

Rowen's eye twitched. "You. Are. DEAD!"

There was a pause. "No I'm not," Kento replied, voice sounding all too innocent. "I'm very much alive."

The archer gave a strangled growl. "I'm going to KILL YOU!"

Kento grinned and said, "I wait in anticipation. What'd I do this time?" Not that he was regretting anything. Whatever it was, it'd earned a wonderful reaction.

"You, you're a, this is all YOUR fault damnit!" Rowen spluttered out, before recounting his day so far.

By the time he was halfway through it, Kento was outright laughing. "Someone was having dirty thoughts!" he chanted in glee. "God, I was starting to think you swung the other way man!"

"It's not FUNNY!" Rowen was whamming himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand.

"No, it's not," Kento snorted out around his laughter. "It's fricking hilarious!"

Rowen made throttling gestures. "When I get my hands on you…"

Kento calmed himself down enough to say between chuckles, "Alright, alright, if you're that worked up over it, I have something to make it up to you."

Rowen looked skeptical. "Depends on what it is."

"A threesome with Cye and me, what else?"

Rowen gaped. "EW! DUDE THAT IS SICK!"

Kento dissolved right back into laughter at this. "Sorry, sorry," he wheezed out. "Couldn't resist."

"I'm sure you couldn't," said Rowen dryly, shuddering. There was something he could have gone an eternity without hearing.

"Right," Kento was trying to calm back down to speak normally and having a hard time of it. "What I meant to say is, I've found a way for you to win a date."

"Kento," Rowen said warningly, a lidded look on his face.

"No, no, listen!" Kento went on excitedly. "It'd do you good to do something besides stare at tiny writing and strain your brain. I've found this contest-"

"No, Kento, I don't want to hear it!" Rowen protested immediately. He had a bad feeling about whatever his teammate was going to suggest.

"Oh hush up a minute!" Kento rolled his eyes. "Frigging prude, it isn't bad. There's a contest going on at one of the local radio stations, if you can solve this math problem they give you in this time limit then you can go on a date with a hot girl."

Rowen gave a groan. "Kento, what makes you think I want to… how come you haven't entered?"

Kento gave a snort. "Ah, I can get a date with a girl if I want one, you're the one who's socially handicapped. Besides, like I want to bother with a math problem when I've got better things to be doing?"

Rowen snorted. "Right."

They all knew Kento wasn't anywhere near as dumb as he liked to act, especially not with numbers. The man just couldn't be bothered, or, as he'd put it, didn't want to turn out like Sage and Rowen. He'd rather have fun than immerse himself in problem after problem and how to solve it.

"I'll email you the link so you can enter," Kento went on excitedly.

"Why am I the only one you're making do this?" Rowen asked in a bored voice now.

"Aw, come on, you know we'd never get stick in the mud Sage to do it. Ryo'd die first, you'd have to get him drunk off his ass before he'd agree to go on a date anyway, I swear he's set on being the next Madonna. And mention it to Cye and he'd be horrified at the thought of raffling off a woman like that."

The archer rubbed the point between his eyes. "So in other words, you just want to torture one of us and I'm the only one you think you can sucker into it?"

Kento whistled innocently and then pleaded, "C'mon man, you know it'd be fun. At least give it a try."

He snorted. "Fine, whatever, like I care. I'll enter. I have a bad feeling about this though."

Kento replied almost immediately, "Alright, sent! Have fun!"

"You mean you were – ugggh! You've been taking sneaky lessons from Sage!" Rowen accused.

Kento gave a snicker, "No, you're just running slow with all those dirty thoughts in your head. Ja ne!"

When Kento had hung up, Rowen set the phone back down on the receiver slowly, eye twitching. "Once this is over, I'm going to use him for target practice," he decided right then and there.

**--**

The annoying, somewhat painful peeling bells on Dais' alarm clock were what caused him to stir from his deep but otherwise unrestful sleep. He reached over from under the covers and hit the sleep button without opening his eyes. After a few minutes he opened them a crack and he promptly squeezed them shut again. Looking back later, he felt that he should have known right then and there that he was in for hell that day.

If he had known then what fate had in store for him, he would have just called in sick and shoved his head back under the pillow. No, Dais didn't want to lose his job so he threw back the covers and hauled himself into a sitting position, beginning to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"Gods," he groaned out. "Of all the things to dream about. My brain must think I'm some sort of masochist with the things it dredges up for me." He sighed then, tiredly, before getting up and padding off to the bathroom.

He was very annoyed at having dreamed, he did not need the unsettling thoughts and emotions disrupting his concentration. He rarely had them and when he did it wasn't always about naked women like certain dumb dogs he knew. No, for all Dais' outward coolness and seeming lack of concern over past deeds, somewhere buried in his subconscious was a seething bed of horror and regret. Those kind of emotions he held sternly locked out of daily consumption but every now and then his brain had to remind him.

But even with as bad as that may seem, what he'd actually dreamed had little to do with that and to him was infinitely worse. It wasn't something he had done even, it was simply the events of a single day almost five centuries ago. The day his family had been murdered and he'd been left alone, he had never been the same since. He'd only been eight at the time, a small boy who went by the name of Kuroda Jirougorou, barely having begun his training as a soon-to-be master of the assassin guild his family had fostered.

In his memories he simply saw the events of that day from the perspective of an alarmed boy. In his dreams however he was faced with the horror struck, scared expression on his younger-self. He had tried turning his back to avoid watching the events unfold but the dream was not so kind. So he sat with his eight year old self, crouched high in the nearby trees and safely concealed as his entire family, from his ailing great-grandmother to infant sister were executed.

He hadn't known why this had occurred at the time but he'd found out not long after. He also found out, even though simple instinct dictated it be so, that he was supposed to be dead too. If it hadn't been for his natural skill at hiding and the sheer luck of not being in the building at the time, he would not be around this day. Though as an eight year old he'd been mature and on his way to being an excellent warrior from simple detachment, the sight had been no less hideous or gruesome.

His two younger brothers and baby sister were killed like sheep, cut down by the legs and gored, the infant ripped from his mother's arms. The rest of the household fought they had been caught completely by surprise and the massacre that followed, all witnessed by the wide eyed child up in the tree, could not be unseen. Soon his grandparents were down, then his mother when his father couldn't get to her in time, his uncle, his father, his other relations falling like helpless deer soon after. Young Jirougorou hadn't come down for hours, even when the sky darkened and the vultures circled the bodies, the troops long gone. He knew he would never forget and nor could he ever forgive.

It was nothing more than another tactical maneuver by another powerful daimyo to remove a threat. A surprise attack that butchered his entire clan sufficiently saw to it that Jirougorou would never hold the title of warlord, much less be the all powerful shogun that his power hungry father had seen in his future. It was not this that upset him at the time, but late he used it as an excuse of sorts. Having been stripped of home, family and security, the prominent son of a powerful clan fell to scavenging to survive and hiding his identity.

This fate had only refined his natural tendencies. He was bitter, hateful and vile but on the surface silent. He locked his feelings inside only to be funneled out as refined strength during fights. By the time he was a teenager he was already taking jobs as a killer for hire. A mercenary more exactly but he had huge problems in working with other people. After a major falling out with the other men in the group, he went solo and began discreetly spreading word about a man as stealthy as death itself. In other words, advertising himself as an assassin.

Though his first kills were trivial and cheap, he began to quickly live up to his reputation. He was absolutely fearless, insane with love of death and there was no one he wouldn't agree to kill. It was a feeling as if he were spreading a disease. He wanted to make other people feel the pain he'd dealt with for those empty, starving years. Causing someone else to suffer a dose of his own fate satisfied him. The world hated him so he returned the favor.

Now as he looked in the mirror at himself, leaning tiredly on the sink, he didn't see himself. He saw instead the face of each unsuspecting victim whose soul he'd torn from its host. It was both a blessing and a curse that he had a near photographic memory, enabling him to picture each face clearly and see the emotions in their eyes as they died. It wasn't a poignant emotion that he felt at seeing them. He hadn't known them, only known their names and enough generic information to know how to best kill them. It was just a muffled unease with his own past that brought their faces to mind.

He gave a groan and forced them out of his mind's eye. He really didn't want to see them, didn't want to deal with reliving those years. Straightening up, he pulled his unruly hair into a pony tail at the base of his head and after brushing his teeth, ventured into the kitchen for some much needed caffeine. Then the minute he opened his bedroom door, it became apparent that someone had left the kitchen radio on and the volume was turned way up. Ignoring the decidedly stupid song playing, he navigated his way mindlessly to where the green tea lived.

Or used to, anyway.

Dais glowered at the empty canister, ready to hurt whoever had consumed the last of it and not bought more. Throwing the empty can in the garbage, he turned to rummage in the fridge for breakfast. He didn't normally eat before work but we've already established this was not a normal evening for him.

After eating some random leftovers as a makeshift supper, it dawned on him that the annoying song playing when he'd walked in had yet to change. It was, in fact, it's third time around. Worst of all was that it was frustratingly catchy and he knew that if he didn't put a halt to this, that he'd go into work humming Crazy Frog's 'I like to Move it Move it' for the rest of the night.

Standing up, he hit the button to turn off the radio only to find that it had been stuck down so it couldn't be turned off. Also, some clever prick had glued the dials in place so he could neither change the station nor turn the volume down to where he couldn't hear it.

Sekhmet was going to get it later.

After giving up on getting the device to shut up, Dais dressed and got out of the apartment just as fast as he could. He made a mental note to think up something nasty to do to Sekhmet in return.

He stopped at a local tea house before heading for the bar where he began his late night shift. As he soon found, his day was not destined to be any better than how it had started. The bar that night was packed to capacity and he had to run like a chicken with it's head cut off to keep up. All the others, including Daisuke and a few extras who worked this shift, were doing the same. Even cool and calm Miniko had a look of being on the edge on her face.

After a few hours, most of those in the bar were now drunk which meant the situation had gone from bad to worse. Weepy eyed women wanted a shoulder to cry on, men wanted to boast about their various conquests, still others wanted a sympathetic ear for their daily woes. And while Dais had a certain amount of people skills and would have liked to indulge them, he not only had no time but also no patience. Combined with intoxicated people, that can result in a lethal mess.

Predictably, he recieved a variety of unsavory responses. One woman spat on him for not having the time to hear her woes, one guy tripped him up and the tray of glasses he'd been carrying were shattered. One particularly drunk soul simply upchucked all over the bar counter. By this point, even Adastreia was feeling rather bad for him and it showed as she grimaced.

The woman walked over and gently pushed the beleaguered warlord aside and began helping him fill drinks. She didn't say anything, just gave him a slightly sympathetic look. This simple action did a lot more than she thought or even would have imagined possible. As she turned to handout the drinks, a small smile cracked at the corner of his lips. So she wasn't as cold as she liked to act. The new possibilities this brought intrigued him.

All the same, he still had vomit to clean up and he brushed his thoughts on the girl aside for the moment. As he grabbed a towel, he wondered what in the hell had made him choose this job to begin with.

The remainder of his shift drug on interminably and he began to wonder if the clock was plotting against him. While the bouncer had seen to it that the really drunk cases had been escorted out and sent home, there were still plenty of loonies at the bar to keep him busy. Interaction with any of the girls had at this point been impossible, they'd simply been to busy. That didn't mean he didn't enjoy the songs they performed on their off shifts. It was loud and angry, suiting his mood perfectly even though that kind of thing generally was more the music Cale or Sekhmet listened to.

At long last, though the shift ended. The bouncer, a man known simply as Yin, saw the rest of the people out as Dais cleaned up the bar. The girls were sweeping and putting chairs up on tables, the every night routine of clean up keeping them busy for another half hour. It was a welcome quiet compared to the earlier chaos.

By this point he would have loved to curl up and take a nap but his work had only just begun as they filed out, he waved goodbye to the others before heading to a nearby coffee shop. This was the upside to this city, there were always places open for Tokyo's teeming nightlife. This time he wasn't messing around with tea. Though he disliked it, he needed the extra kick that coffee had to offer. As he continued his walk, it was after 1 AM.

As he walked down the sidewalk like another pedestrian, he considered the nature of what all he would be doing this evening. Dais had changed a lot from his previous self, he only took assignments where the target was obviously involved in crime or else real scum. He no longer rejoiced in the simple fact of taking life, it now had to serve a purpose. Today he was removing a real nasty piece of work and after watching this aspiring crime lord, he had no remorse in about taking the job.

He passed the various displays of bright neon lights and paper lanterns, barely paying them any mind nor droves of various overworked Japanese out for a good time. His plan was already set and he knew his way by heart. That was saying something, considering the veritable maze that makes up Tokyo's street system. He took a long, zigzagging path of various unnamed streets and alleyways, his pace neither hurried nor leisurely. He attracted no more attention to himself than the next random, infinitely forgettable person.

The nightlife activity of this never sleeping city was an excellent cover for him and he wasn't at all concerned or even hyped up by what he was about to do. Dais, in all of his years as a professional assassin, had never bungled a hit. As for various attacks on the Ronin… those didn't count.

The place where he was intending to make the kill was in fact a well known hostess bar in Kabuki-Cho in Shinjuku. Old Imperial was the name of the place. His target's name was Yamado Youta or at least that was the one he went by. He went there every night at exactly 2 AM to unwind. He'd observed his target for two weeks now, marking his habits and the places he frequented and Dais found this little thug's predictability downright sad.

He stopped as he neared it and though to people nearby it appeared that he had kept walking straight ahead, the real Dais made a left. Undetectable to the people around him, he went on to his true destination while his apparent double began his way back to the apartment. It wasn't even really necessary in his opinion but he liked the idea of having a backup alibi.

The atmosphere of the place was quiet, each table holding people quietly conversing with paid hostesses over drinks and sharing their woes and daily stress. He knew exactly which table Yamado would be at and he walked to the corner booth the man favored. He was there, exactly as Dais had known he would be, with his left side facing the aisle, sacrificing his view of those coming in to have the hand he used open and available. Yamado was left handed.

None of this really made a difference to Dais because with how he looked at it, he was going to be dead before he knew what had hit him.

He stepped up behind Yamado and right on time, the lights in the bar clicked off plunging everyone there into total darkness and panic. By this time he was already producing a long thin blade from his sleeve and just as he grabbed Yamado's head and pulled him back, his illusion splintered. The hostess sitting across from him screamed as she saw the blade and but now there was no going back.

Dais slammed the blade between the base of Yamado's skull and his spinal cord, killing him instantly. Only a split second later he was already moving, grabbing a light fixture and vaulting himself up towards the ceiling to clear the crowd and escape before he could be identified. Thank god for darkness and previous confusion.

Luck was with him, apparently as his powers came back and he once again dissolved from view and was able to scale across the ceiling like a spider. This, he thought as he went, was one of the advantages to having a bitchy and opinionated armor. Upon later reflection, the irony of what happened next completely failed to amuse him. That was exactly when his illusion failed for a second time and the next thing he knew, Gen vanished, simply no longer working. Dais blinked as he was suddenly both visible and falling straight to the floor.

He was so caught off guard that a disgruntled shout escaped his lips, bringing with it more unwanted attention. "Ch'kuso," he swore. What a time for his armor to fail, what a time for the magic to dissipate, of all the problems he _hadn't_ needed. By the time he was hitting the ground he was back on his feet and running, disappearing among the rest of the panicked and fleeing occupants of the bar.

He blocked out whatever pain came with the impact with the floor and kept moving. Luckily for him, the place was total chaos and another running body was unnoticed. People were screaming bloody murder but no one looked at Dais any differently. He hadn't been seen. Once outside and down another street he slowed to a normal pace before slinking into the shadows. After checking and finding that his armor was once again back online and thanking whatever unnamed deity still favored him enough to make it operational again, he began his way back home.

This time he stuck to the sidelines and out of sight, not trusting it to remain in working order. It was a good thing he made this extra precaution because about halfway there it vanished again. This time nothing he did could make it come back. Dais gave a low string of curses under his breath as he did his best to look normal. At the same time, he knew he had to get back before the blood on the knife seeped into his shirt sleeve. He didn't think there was that much on it but he was so worked up from everything that had gone wrong that his fight or flight instincts were hampering clear thought.

By the time he let himself back into his apartment at nearly 3 AM it was very quiet and he was shaking badly. He was surprised, though, from the sheer stillness. He clicked on a light and blinked at seeing the radio completely dismantled and utterly silent, probably Cale's work. Well, good, he didn't think he'd be able to stand hearing Crazy Frog at this hour of _this_ particular day.

He washed off his blade and after replacing it in its normal hiding place, went back into the kitchen for a drink to soothe his nerves. He had already lit up a cigarette, he'd gone through almost a whole pack in the course of this hellacious day, and now wanted saki badly. Actually, never mind the saki, he needed whiskey. He quirked an eyebrow at the note on the fridge door and pulling it off, reading it while using his other hand to pour his drink.

It was purple paper, something that definitely belong to Kayura, or maybe it was Sekhmet's. He could never tell. At any rate, it was Kayura's handwriting and... signature hot pink gelpen that hurt his eyes. Basically it said that she'd kicked the other two into motion to get their own places, rather than invading his.

He set it down as he finished, collapsing tiredly into a chair to finish his cigarette and down the alcohol. It was probably just as well that they'd finally moved out of his apartment, he didn't have the energy to deal with them tonight. With that settled and feeling much better after a smoke and his drink, he locked the door, turned off the light and went to bed.


	7. Chapter Six

_"To sit alone with my conscience will be judgment enough for me."  
- Charles William Stubbs_

**Chapter Six**

Cale sat perched on his haunches like a dog. He was on the very top of one of Tokyo's taller skyscrapers, looking out across the city. His reason for climbing so high was so that he could observe the sunset, his main daily ritual. It was the best part of each day for him and he was there no matter what. It made him feel better to watch as the dirty city was plunged into relative darkness, the majority of its grime concealed from view.

His enjoyment of this event was marred by the fact that the all pervading haze of smog over the skyline bleached out the brilliant colors. It made a frown tug at the corner of his lips and he continued to sit there as darkness grew and the neon lights of the sprawling city staved off the starlight. Then he settled back and gave a low sigh, turning his gaze to the sky directly above him. Sometimes it seemed to him that the human race was trying to chase away nature. Did they fear the night? Did the unknown harbor so much terror for them, rather than the mystery and interest that it had for him? It worried Cale, watching what he had felt like the destruction of this planet.

He was the only one of his team that so avidly disliked modern times. Kayura and Sekhmet had both taken to it easily and even the ever silent Dais was adapting well. It was only the warlord of Darkness who found himself wishing that he'd never had to see this modern age. Though he didn't complain out loud, his private emotions and thoughts were very bitter.

An airplane flew by high above and he had to clamp his hands over his ears. The noise made his sensitive canine ears ring painfully, one of many reasons why he was having such a hard time adjusting. On the ground was not much better, though. Car exhaust made him dizzy and the glare off steel building frames hurt his eyes. By the end of each day he had a vicious migraine. It felt as if technology were out to injure him.

Reaching up, he pulled down the pair of sunglasses that had been pushed back on his head of unruly blue hair and slipped them down in front of his eyes before he got up to leave. The warlord had them with him at all times and wore them day and night. Kayura had developed a love of taunting him about their presence, saying that his sunglasses were more reliable than he was or that he was being awfully vain, to be wearing them even at night to seem cool. It wasn't that Cale minded how good he looked in them by any means but that was hardly the sole reason. He was the warlord of Darkness and his eyes were sensitive enough that he could see in true, cave-black darkness. His eyes couldn't take light well and if he didn't wear his shades then he could and probably would eventually ruin his eyes.

As he exited the building on the ground floor, he walked out on the brightly illuminated Tokyo streets. He had his hands shoved into his pockets of his black pants as he walked, not interested in proper posture at the moment. He needed to get to work on time tonight. It was annoying, having to do this constantly but he had little choice in the matter. Just like every other human alive, he had to slave away for someone else in order to keep afloat. He was no longer a demon general, just a regular man with bills to pay.

He had found a suitable enough job, he supposed. Either way, he was good enough at it and it paid sufficiently that he wasn't sleeping on the streets which was really all that mattered to him. As for what he was doing, he had found an entrance job working as a body guard. It was hardly surprising, according to Kayura-the-running-commentary, that he'd become employed based on his skills at intimidation and beating people up. She'd wondered why he hadn't just gotten a job as a bouncer at some biker bar, he'd probably get more entertainment that way. As amusing as the prospect was, the body guard job offered better wages.

It hadn't been difficult for him to get hired, simply going by his physical appearance as well as the prevailing air of danger. Cale was not a tall man, even for the Japanese, but he was a true fire plug. His body build was 170 centimeters of muscle and an impressive array of tribal tattoos that he'd collected over the years of being in and out of the mortal realm. The fact that he boasted an impressive knowledge of weaponry was icing on the cake.

As for the work itself, it hadn't been very much fun so far. Contrary to Kayura's assessment, it was mostly just standing near his client and looking scary. Little besides this had happened and he had no clue why his client felt like he needed a body guard. With all this leaning against walls and looking creepy, he was beginning to feel a lot like Sage. That was a disturbing thought in itself.

He paused in his walk as a poster on a building front caught his eye. It was for Disturbed, an American band, he realized as he looked it over. Evidently they were coming to Japan on world tour. Just from the lead singer's appearance, Cale was intrigued. He was going to have to look them up. Perhaps it would be worth going to go see.

He resumed his walk, though by this point he didn't have far to go. A car parked on a nearby curb was his ride. Heading over, he opened the back door and hopped in before the driver started the car and took him the rest of the way to his destination. He had been surprised when informed of his ride to work but it was explained that he was impressive to the boss and that he wanted him around him longer, if possible. For some reason, this struck him as being somewhat creepy.

Cale really didn't see how he could be so impressive, he'd barely done anything. The most excitement they'd had was a common pick pocket who had promptly handed everything back over at Cale's request. Mind you, the 'request' was given in the form of turning the man upside down and shaking him until the contents of his pockets reemerged. This man who had hired him surpassed all understanding and so the warlord didn't even bother trying to figure him out. It wasn't worth it and he didn't want to lose his job by asking too many questions.

The events of the rest of Cale's work shift are hardly even notable. He spent his time following this shrimp-like little man around and looking forbidding while making sure the area was secure. It was really not a very glamorous or fascinating task and he was spending more time trying to scare away the innocent bystanders than any actual threat. By the time he clocked out, Cale was feeling very depressed, an unwelcome but all too familiar feeling.

He'd had to take a firearms safety course and after that he had gone on to get the license required in Japan to handle firearms. Even though he was good with a gun, he disliked them heartily, like so much that had to do with this modern time. Luckily for him, one was not required for his job as the only form of a gun Japanese were allowed to handle are shotguns and rifles. He had been hired on the basis of his ability to fight with his body. All the same, he had acquired one illegally and normally carried it with him.

After that he walked the ten blocks back to his apartment, having emptied several cases of ammo with target practice in the sewers. He was a fairly good shot, a better one if you considered that all of his training was for a sword and that the gun he shot was the only piece of modern equipment which he had so far fully mastered. Things like ATMs, computers, and cars baffled him. He could only get money in or out of his bank account with some stupid little slips of paper that Kayura had given him and if he went inside and talked to a human instead of a machine.

Fitting the key into the lock on his door he opened it and stepped in, kicking it shut behind him. He didn't even look at the clock and didn't bother with turning on a light. He went straight for the fridge and opened it. After grabbing a bottle of whiskey and a semi-clean shot glass, he downed a swig as fast as he could. Visible from his kitchen was the rising sun's light coming in through the French doors that led out onto his porch. A growl escaped his lips and he walked across the living room, dragging the curtains shut tightly. He did not want to see that filthy city.

He dropped down into an arm chair, bottle in one hand and glass in the other. Really, it was a wonder he even used the glass at the rate he was consuming the whiskey. He avoided seeing his reflection in the mirror across the room, burrowing deeper into the chair with his alcohol to keep him company. He didn't want to see himself, a man who was essentially alone and empty, riddled with gross habits and nasty faults. Granted, a majority of these were his fault but at the moment that fact only made things worse.

By now he had half the bottle down. He was a drinker; Dais did enough smoking for the both of them though. Even with as much as he'd had to drink by this point he was only woozy enough to begin slurring his speech. He knew that he'd have to drink the whole thing if he wanted to keep the nightmares away. But more than that, he simply wanted to be too drunk to think.

Most people took for granted that thinking wasn't his strong point and while he didn't have the wits that Sekhmet did nor the creepy sixth sense that Dais had, Cale wasn't totally bereft of brain matter. That also didn't mean that he had no feelings or emotions. People took a lot of things for fact with him that were mere projections produced by this man who was trained with a warrior's mask and naturally concealed the majority of who he actually was. It hurt though that no one cared enough to delve further. By now he wondered why he bothered. He no longer fit in among humans. He belonged in another age, his generation had long since passed on to dust and yet he was still here. He felt like it was absolutely impossible for him to ever fit in.

His teammates looked at him like some kind of stereotypical 'lone wolf' but that wasn't Cale at all. He was the same as any other wolf or mortal man for that matter. He needed a pack, a mate, offspring, security, and to keep those dear to him safe. Without that he went into a cynical manic depression that made him question everything, right down to the use of his existence.

Then again, one of the things about him that most drove his teammates berserk was his antagonistic streak. He spent half the time finding new and exciting ways to get everyone mad at him. It was a direct result of boredom or so it seemed. Cale craved attention and if riling people up to hunt him down for blood was the only way to do it, then so be it.

There were a lot of things about Cale that either people failed to give him credit for or that they missed entirely. They saw the gruff, scarred exterior and thought that it ended there as if he were some corny two dimensional drawing. He had never really had a chance to show it but somewhere inside was a snuggly, protective wolf that was exceedingly lonely. It was his warrior's mask that hid this and Cale was still waiting for someone to look twice and find it. He was tired of being alone.

He pulled the gun out of his holster and dropped it with a clunk on the table before him. He had been contemplating the futility of life ever since he'd come back to stay. What purpose did he serve? His armor could find a new bearer. He was done, wasn't he? After all, come to find out that the immortality he'd been promised was a joke. Now in the mortal realm he was aging normally again and he knew he would die of old age, if he didn't get killed before then.

The question, therefore, was could he deal with waiting until that happened? More so than any of the others, Cale was an outcast. Even Sekhmet had found a job and was accepted, as strange as he was. Now Cale was just another man-whore down in the bars looking for a good time. He scowled. He was a warrior! A _real_ warrior, who wielded his blade with knowledge of honor and ancient customs. Not some dumb punk that popped off shots and killed without dignity. Now in this time, his training was useless and after all these years, Cale had nothing to show for himself but a bitter past of innocent blood he'd shed.

He finished the off the remainder of his whiskey and staggered off to bed. He didn't bother to strip since he'd taken off his shoes at his door and left his sunglasses on the kitchen counter with the bottle opener. So he simply curled up on top of his covers and gave himself up to drunken, dreamless slumber.

**The Next Day**

If there was one single poignant fact that Sekhmet had learned while living and working in the mortal realm, it was that coffee was DISGUSTING. He liked trying new things, learning and experimenting, but this was something he wished he could un-learn. He was at that moment feeling very sorry for himself too, as he thought that he had somehow managed to kill every taste bud in his mouth with that acrid beverage. What's worse was that he had tried it at the station and didn't have time to go back to his apartment and use Listerine and thoroughly scrub his tongue.

He had also found out through matter of consequence that no amount of green tea could mask the flavor and so the coffee had ruined his tea for him as well. The unfortunate warrior/mad scientist turned DJ spent the next ten minutes smacking his lips, making god-awful faces and gargling water in the restroom. All of this, much to the amusement of the other staff who found his reaction highly entertaining.

It should therefore come as no surprise that when the other DJ walked in, filled a cup and proceeded to drink it black, that Sekhmet could only stare in complete bafflement. How anyone could consume something so disgusting without even so much as cream or sugar was utterly beyond him. It also seemed to him that it ought to burn away anyone's teeth who drank it for any extended period of time. This led him on to wonder what all it did to one's insides.

The morning program turned out to be very interesting because of this incident, especially because the other DJ happened to be something else that Sekhmet was not good at dealing with. This was, in fact, because the other DJ was a woman. A foreign woman, but an attractive one and as it happened she absolutely adored coffee and couldn't stand tea, hence there being a coffee machine in the break room. So she went from being a woman, an enigmatic thing in itself that Sekhmet could not figure out how to handle, to being utterly beyond his scope of comprehension.

Making things harder was the fact that she always referred to him (and every other man) as 'darling', 'dear', or 'honey' and Sekhmet could, and normally did, become so flustered that he temporarily lost his ability to speak. So that morning as he and Keira, the 'other' DJ sat down in the studio, Keira with a mug of still steaming coffee, Sekhmet couldn't help the grossed out look on his face. Keira was a bright and cheerful person but she seemed oblivious to his expression and so started the program normally.

"Hello and good morning Tokyo!" she said in her fluent Japanese. "It's a clear morning, much welcome after all the gray skies and rain we've... Hey, what's the matter?" It would seem that she had just now noticed Sekhmet's expression and the fact that he was glowering at her coffee cup. "Uh... Venom?" she blinked, following his line of sight to her mug. As she realized what was wrong, she laughed.

"What's so funny?" he asked, looking at her oddly.

"You tried the coffee this morning, didn't you?" she asked, a grin on her face.

Sekhmet crossed his arms defiantly. "I most certainly did not. It smells offensive is all."

Keira's grin turned into a smirk. "Honey, just admit it, you tried the coffee." It was no surprise. He'd been eyeing it curiously ever since he'd come to work here.

He just glowered more and instead of just saying 'yes' or even 'so what' he had to demand, "HOW do you DRINK that stuff? It's like liquefied dragon fart, come on!"

Keira couldn't help but laugh at his vivid description. "Well, well, our very own DJ Venom tasted my coffee. Judging from the look on his face, it didn't agree with him. Come on now, it isn't that bad!"

Sekhmet made a face so awful that the woman across from him was damn near in hysterics. "The fuck it isn't!" he said, not caring at this point what his listeners must be thinking. "That is the single nastiest concoction I've ever tasted. My mouth is never going to be the same!"

"Dramatic much?" she teased, still half laughing at him. "It's good! You probably had some of what was first brewed and it was too strong. Here, try mine." She picked up her mug and offered it to him.

Making a face, he leaned as far away from the cup as possible, as if its contents were going to jump out and bite his nose. "If I was a Christian, I'd be exorcising your ass right now," he said. "Get away from me, demon!"

Keira cackled, finding this torture to be great fun. "Aw, come on! Just try it you big baby!"

"I am NOT a baby," Sekhmet said, thoroughly miffed at this. "You are a sad, brain washed little clone, drinking that... that... vile mess."

"Maybe," she laughed, "But I'm a sexy clone, right baby?"

All that the radio listeners heard next was a dull thud and Keira's laughter before she managed to say, "That, in case you were wondering, is my poor co-host trying to put himself in a coma by smashing his head into the desk."

"And it's not working," Sekhmet's muffled voice contributed. He had a chronic eye twitch that he was sure was never going to go away.

The rest of the day was as bad as the beginning, or maybe Sekhmet was just developing a persecution complex. Keira continued to tease him about the coffee, something that made the normally cool warlord seethe with indignation. Then again, that was probably why the woman found it to be so entertaining and continued to push the button. By the time his shift came to a close, he was more than ready to leave the station. Never had he been so glad that she only worked weekends. Since he got Sundays off, he wouldn't have to see her until next week.

To Keira, this was not such good news. She liked Sekhmet, as a friend of course. He was a complete turn around from any other guy she had ever met, making his strange sense of humor and quirky personality hugely refreshing. Of course, since she only worked with him one day out of the week, it inhibited her from actually getting to know him. So to change that, she jogged to catch up with him as he strode to the exit.

"Hey," she said, snagging his arm, smiling. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

He paused, looking back and blinking in apparent bewilderment to her query. '_Away from you, you're scary.'_ "Home, why do you ask?"

She raised an eyebrow to that. Home hardly seemed like this guy's way to unwind after work, was he joking? "What are you going to do there?" she pressed further.

Sekhmet was at this point wondering if the coffee had melted her brain. Something just was not right in there. "Why do you ask?" he said again.

"Because I want to be friends," she stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That requires getting to know each other."

Well, if he hadn't been lost before he was now, as he stared in abject bewilderment. She was saying she actually wanted to spend time with him of her own free will? No way, there must be something she wanted. Then again, no one here really even knew anything about him so she had no incentive. He could not wrap his mind around this and thus naturally assumed that she was supposed to find out more about him. "You do?" he finally echoed somewhat stupidly.

"Mhm," she nodded, beaming. "You seem like a lot of fun."

Fun? She didn't even so much as find him... disconcerting? Not even a little creepy? Now, this was unheard of. Usually people couldn't get past how he looked, "snake like," "hideous," and "scary." Keira's reaction was totally lost on him but at least now he was recovering enough of his brain function after the initial shock that he could summon more intelligent responses. "I do, huh? Why do you think that?"

She shook her head a bit sadly and patted his arm. "Why don't we go to a bar and talk about it over a few shots?"

"...okay," he said. Well, why not? He didn't really have anything better to be doing. Of course, there was no telling what this odd woman was up to.

"Great! Let me grab my jacket and we'll go."

"Uh, sure," he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets awkwardly to wait. It didn't take her long and soon she was walking back, allowing the two of them to head out onto the street. She spared her coworker any further touching, as she noticed it seemed to make him greatly uncomfortable. Then again, maybe it was just Japanese men in general. She hadn't been in the country long but knew enough about the culture to know that they were odd about affection. For instance, they wouldn't even hug in public. Therefore, she wasn't going to push it.

"So tell me about yourself," she said as they walked side by side through the crowds of overworked Asians looking for entertainment after work.

"What do you want to know?" he countered, wondering how long this interrogation would last.

"The basics," she chuckled. "Your likes, dislikes, where you're from... you know, that sort of thing."

"Hm." Now how to get through this without arousing suspicion. Luckily, Sekhmet was a quick thinker, because he had a feeling that some of these questions were going to get pretty tricky. "I like anything that requires me using my head and being challenged," he said. "And as for dislikes... cold weather is pure misery and I hate coffee." Keira giggled despite herself at this. "I'm from Kyushu, Kagoshima prefecture in the south. Now I'm going to add a clause to this... conversation," he smirked. "Every question I answer, you have to answer it too and tell me about yourself."

"Okay," she smiled, agreeing readily enough. "Works for me. Let's see... I love water, really everything to do with it just about except fishing. That's too boring. I love warm weather too because obviously that is when I can be in the water the most. Hm, I'm from Ireland but I was raised in America."

"Wow," was his initial response. Thank the gods he'd been catching up on his history and geography or else he never would have known what the hell she was talking about. "When did you come here?"

"About four months ago by now," she replied after a bit of thought.

"I've never left Japan," Sekhmet said.

"No, I wouldn't have thought so," Keira said in slight amusement. "But I think you would enjoy travelling."

He quirked an eyebrow at this assessment. "You barely know me." He opened the door to the establishment and let her walk in first. At the bar he took a seat to her left, mostly out of habit as he happened to be left handed and didn't like bumping elbows with people.

"I may not know enough to write a biography," replied Keira, "But I know things from listening to you talk."

Sekhmet waited until they had ordered their drinks before saying in confusion, "How can you get so much just from listening to me talk?"

She resisted patting his arm like he was a child. "It's a woman's instinct. So what about family? Friends?"

"I don't have a family," he said, "And my friends... eh, those whack jobs are better left unmentioned."

She laughed at this. She laughed a lot, in fact. It wasn't just to be polite, either, she seemed genuinely amused. "Your friends must be something else. I'm sorry about your family though."

He shrugged it off; he wasn't. "Don't worry about it, it's not like it's your fault."

She blinked at this response but decided not to press the issue further. "My family is rather small, not at all the typical Catholic one. I have an older brother and a younger brother, my mother and father are farmers turned city workers. I really don't remember much about the farm. As for friends... I know a lot of people from my travelling but I'm very selective about those I call friends."

"So what makes you want me as one?" Sekhmet felt the urge to inquire.

She seemed to think on this as she took a drink of her beer. "I'm not sure," she finally said, offering a shrug to go along with it. "I guess you personality interests me. I really want to learn more about you."

As she talked, Sekhmet was sneakily looking her over. She was pleasing to the eyes and her personality was magnetic. Really, it was a wonder she didn't have guys all around her. Her hair was dark strawberry blonde and curled defiantly out of the pony tail she wore it in, her eyes were an odd shade of blue and gray, creating an almost lavender effect if the light hit them right. Her complexion was very tanned, not at all fair, indicative of many hours spent outdoors. He really had to wonder why she wanted to be around him but there was no way that he was just going to come out and ask why she didn't find him repulsive. That could wait, provided she even stuck around that long.

"Earth to Sekhmet?" Keira asked, waving a hand in front of his face. "Anybody home?"

He blinked, jolting out of his thoughts and realized he'd been staring at her. He flushed slightly, an interesting color in contrast to his bright green hair. "S-sorry," he said quickly. "What were you saying?"

Keira looked at him for a long minute before she finally said, "You're different."

Sekhmet blinked again. No kidding. Where was this woman's head? '_Must be related to Rowen,'_ he thought. Had she not looked at him the entire time they had been working together? "Different how?"

She rapped her fingernails on the glass she was holding and the noise annoyed him. "Most guys would be staring at my chest," she said, "Trying to sneak a peek down my shirt. You, though, were staring at my eyes, nothing lower." Keira was the type of person who noticed odd behavior habits and evaluated what they meant about that person. To her, this was quite different from normal... Western men and she rather wondered if he were gay.

Sekhmet had no idea what to make of this however. "I'm supposed to be trying to see down your shirt?" he asked, staring at her oddly.

This made her laugh again as she shook her head. "No, silly. It's just different. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Oh, now she had to be joking. Him, dating? "No," he said.

"Boyfriend?" she tried. Sekhmet just stared at her like she was out of her mind, prompting her to start laughing again. "Sorry, sorry, no offence, I was only asking. If you're not gay then don't be all ruffled up, it was only a question."

"No," Sekhmet was shaking his head. '_This girl is nuts.'_ "I'm not gay."

"Ok," she chuckled. "Neither am I, and no I am not dating, I haven't since high school. I gave up pretty quickly when I figured out that the majority of guys are just pigs."

'_She'd hate Cale then._' There was a moment of silence between them as Sekhmet couldn't think of a response to this and so instead he changed the subject. "How long are you here for?"

"Until I get bored or tired of it, I suppose," she shrugged. "Probably another few years at least. What about you? Do you intend to travel?"

He took a long drink as he debated his response to this. "At this point in my life, no, not outside of Japan," was his reply. "What brought you here in the first place?"

"I'm a fashion designer," she said. "And since my work can go pretty much anywhere with me, I came to Japan to brush up on my history and my language skills."

He nodded, "You speak very well, you barely even have an accent."

She beamed, "I'm glad to hear that. Thank you very much."

Their conversation went on for a few more hours, mostly just feeling each other out and getting to know one another. It was a task easier said than done, though. Keira was friendly and open but Sekhmet was Sekhmet, as close mouthed as ever and his conversation skills were mediocre at best. However, his sarcastic sense of humor seemed to make up for it and he kept Keira laughing, an effect he was coming to enjoy. It just made him oddly happy to see that he was amusing her.

As the night wore on though, Keira had to get home. After all, she had a shift that started first thing in the morning. Sekhmet may not have been the best for conversation but he was not about to let this woman walk home alone. She was rather surprised by his offer to walk her but accepted it graciously.

It was always a surprise to her when he showed such good manners and yet really was a terrible conversationalist. He seemed exceedingly old fashioned, even more so than any of the other very polite young Japanese men she had met. Despite Sekhmet's awkwardness, Keira was determined to be friends with him. She wasn't even sure why she wanted him as one so badly. Perhaps the woman was picking up on the fact that he really was neglected and alone and felt sympathetic.

They continued to talk on the way to her apartment, Sekhmet showing her a shorter (and safer) way to reach her high rise, for which she was very grateful. At her door, though, she absolutely could not hold back any longer. Like it or not, she _had_ to hug Sekhmet and that was precisely what she did. Before the guy even had a chance to say good bye, she was flinging her arms around him in a tight hug. Sekhmet opened and closed his mouth, hands still limp at his sides, as he had no idea what to make of this and could only peer down at her in confusion.

She seemed to pick up on this, though it was probably the fact that he wasn't returning it that clued her in. "Sorry," she said as she pulled away, smiling a bit crookedly. His completely bemused expression was rather amusing. "Where I'm from, we hug our friends. You looked like you needed the love."

Poor Sekhmet just wanted to run away now. This girl was something he could only handle in small doses and it would seem he'd had his limit for one day. "Ah," he said in understanding, though he didn't really get it. More importantly, he wasn't so sure he wanted to. He was now in escape mode and had to get out of there as fast as possible. "Well, good night Keira." Shit, he didn't even know her last name. They'd told it to him when they had been introduced but he'd forgotten it as his brain dismissed it as unnecessary information.

"Good night," she smiled as she unlocked her door. "See you next Saturday."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. See you." He gave a slight wave and turned to leave as she went into her apartment. She got the feeling that she had scared him but wasn't too worried about it. He had the coming week to get over it before he got another day of friendly time. She paused as she thought that. "That sounded wrong," she commented to her empty apartment.

Sekhmet, of course, was reeling. That was the most socializing he had ever done and he was going to be shaking his head for days over that strange woman. '_And people think that I'm nuts? Ha! The next person to say that has to be locked in a room with Keira for an hour.'_ Being hugged, by someone he barely knew no less, was the most unsettling part by far. He'd never received physical affection before and wasn't sure if it made him happy or gave him the willies.

He unlocked his door and walk in, blinking as he saw that he had house guests. '_Kayura must have let them in, she's the only other one beside me who had a key.' _Keira and his strange evening were pushed from mind as he shut the door, eyeing his teammates with no great pleasure.

"About damn time," huffed Kayura, who was sitting on his counter, arms crossed in annoyance. He was going to have to sterilize that surface now. "Where have you been?"

"The bar," he replied briefly, waiting for someone to tell him the reason for the reunion.

"Strippers any good?" Cale inquired from where he was sitting with his legs up on the table and his arms behind his head.

Sekhmet rolled his eyes and knocked Cale's legs down before he bothered to reply. '_Damn mutt, contaminating the table too.'_ "I don't go to those kind of places."

"Sorry, I forgot. You're a virgin," Cale gave him a mockingly sympathetic look that earned a smack upside the head from Kayura who had gotten down at this exchange.

"You two shut it and be good," she said. Dais had up to this point remained silent.

"I'm sorry, I'll try harder next time," Sekhmet snorted out dryly. "Mind telling me the reason for the inva- I mean, visit? I don't think its a house warming party."

Dais gave a low snort at that. "Nothing of the sort. We've got trouble on our hands." He didn't wait for a response, he was very weary and his manners were now at nil. "The magic has been fluctuating severely the last few days and has begun to form various nasty sink holes around the city. Something is about to break and we're going to have us one hell of a show down."


	8. Chapter seven

Author's note: Sorry for the long time no update. I was in a bit of a writer's funk, that and having to work with the Ronin again had my a bit put off. However, after much waiting, I've finally finished chapter seven. Hooray! Yeah, really. Sorry guys, and if you're confused by the opening, reread the last scene in chapter seven. ;)

/Author's note

_--_

_--_

_"The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them."  
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)_

**Chapter Seven**

Sekhmet gave his comrades what could only be called a completely scathing snake glare. Clearly, Dais' dramatic news totally failed to impress him. "Whoop-dee-fucking-dog-doo," was his sarcastic remark.

Kayura raised an eyebrow at his answer. "What crawled up your ass and composted?" she asked, hands on her hips.

Sekhmet's eye twitched subtly. His entire day had been ruined by the coffee and he was on overload from his affectionate coworker. Then he had come home to find his apartment populated with the very morons he had moved out to avoid. After all of this, no matter how tired or frustrated he might be, he was expected to be busting with joy when Dais gave him such information? News that simply meant he'd have to pull out his armor orb, something else he wasn't looking forward to. No, Sekhmet had some news of his own for them. It didn't work like that.

"Get out of my apartment," he said flatly, pointing to the door. "I'm exhausted and my tolerance is spent, so I'm going to get some sleep. Call me when the fun starts, but until then stay the fuck _out_."

"It could happen any time, though! You need to be ready!" Kayura scolded.

Cale was shaking his head as he got up. "He's getting cranky in his old age. Well, Sekhmet ol' buddy, we'll leave you to make yourself feel better with your pillow."

Sekhmet was showing them to the door now. "You can be ready in my place. Cale, if you don't keep your dumbass comments to yourself, you're going to be hanging from the rafters by your tongue."

"Sounds kinky," Cale smirked, ducking out the door just as fast as he could go because the look on Sekhmet's face was pure murder.

"Sekhmet," Dais patted his shoulder. "Once you get a girl you'll be much better off and hopefully a more gracious host as well."

"Gah!" Sekhmet did not want to think about getting a girl; he didn't want to think about girls at ALL. The evening spent with Keira was too fresh in his memory. "Get OUT!"

Dais tutted reprovingly as he and Kayura were forcefully shoved out. "Such dreadful manners."

"Comes from hanging you with you lot so much," was Sekhmet's snappish retort before the door slammed and locked.

"That was… different," Kayura noted, frowning. Normally Sekhmet was quite polite and so this new behavior begged the question… "I wonder if he's doing drugs," she mused as they turned from the door.

Oh, if only the others had known the real reason Sekhmet was so worked up. They would have had a field day. This was the reason that the ex-evil warlord of venom was determined that none of them were to know about him being dragged out by Keira. It was hard enough to put up with their constant comments about the fact that he was a virgin. He really didn't want to find out what they would do for a new round of taunting.

As it was Sekhmet already had a lifetime supply of condoms. This was mostly due to Cale, whose pea-sized mutt brain reasoned that if he kept donating protection then Sekhmet might actually get around to using them. Instead, they just kept piling up. Sekhmet had enough by this point to fill an entire drawer and he was thinking about donating them to the National AIDS foundation. The only thing holding him back was he figured they'd just get handed right back to Cale and then to him, thus making it a waste of his energy.

Outside of Sekhmet's apartment, Dais walked down the stairs rather than using the elevator like Kayura, as he still distrusted those things. Of course by this point Cale was long gone, where to Dais neither knew nor cared. He had the night off himself, no bar duty for him, so he could go back to his place and get a full night's rest.

This was not as good as it may seem. With his armor acting up, he had an extremely limited time in which to observe the girls. Then there was also the fact that it was more for his own personal entertainment than because it served any real purpose. He was curious about the oddities and coincidences surrounding them but he had kept on their tails more for being privy to when they showered than any intent to find anything useful out. He really didn't see anything wrong with doing this. After all, his having the sneakiest of all armors had to be for a reason, didn't it? Even if it wasn't he felt that its uses made up at least partially for the hassle having a spider army was.

Aside from several very nice shower scenes, his surveillance had been uneventful. They seemed like perfectly normal college girls, albeit Adastreia was a very reticent one. If it weren't for their nagging, impossible aura colors, Dais would have thought that he'd been jumping to conclusions. Then again, whatever had shown up and threatened him had been quite specific. It amused him though, that for all the threats, whoever it was apparently had no problem with him being a peeping tom.

Once outside on the sidewalk, Dais lit up a cigarette and took a long drag before continuing his walk towards his high rise. His cigarette remained firmly clamped between his lips, except for the occasions that Dais actually remembered he had to breathe. That required him taking it out to exhale, something he found a bit annoying.

"So when are you gonna quit smoking?" Cale asked, coming out of no where to walk beside him.

Dais wasn't overly concerned with Cale, much less where he's come from or why. He was in nicotine heaven and very little was filtering in. "Just as soon as you quit drinking," was his belated response, as he stomped out one exhausted cigarette and lit another.

"I've been sober a whole week," Cale said, smirking as he followed along in Dais' smoky haze. "You're running a little behind."

"Sure I am," Dais said, still only half paying attention. "That's why you answered your door half asleep with an empty bottle of whiskey and a major hangover."

"Eh, minor details," Cale waved this off. There was a moment of silence before was growing unsettled by Dais' day-dreamy silence. "Are you really all there?" He had to ask, as he hadn't yet even glanced over at him. He was beginning to think that old eyepatch was improving those cigarettes with something.

"Mhm," he said in between puffs.

Cale quirked an eyebrow at this and then decided to test his theory. "Dais, look!" he said excitedly. "Naked women!"

That served to snap Dais right out of his reverie, spinning around to find them. "Where?" he asked. Pausing, he blinked and scowled as the only female in sight was Kayura as she was waiting ahead for them to catch up. "That was cruel," he said, glowering at Cale.

The other man was too busy laughing to care about the evil creepy glare he was receiving. Still chuckling, he put his arms behind his head as he walked. "It worked though," he said.

"You're taking a leaf out of Anubis' book," said Dais as he lit another cigarette to continue puffing away. It wasn't any wonder he was a chain smoker with the people he had to put up with. "Are you going to turn into a girl next too?"

Cale rolled his eyes. "No thanks. I like women, but not that much."

Dais smirked. "So? That wasn't stopping Anubis. As it is, his ghost spends the majority of the time trailing Mia."

Cale was rubbing his eyes as they approached Kayura, who raised an eyebrow at the two. "I'm not going to ask what you two were talking about," she said, falling into stride with them. All three had apartments in the same high rise and therefore, peculiar as was, walked together.

Cale patted her head, mostly because he knew how mad it made her. "It's better if you don't," he agreed.

Kayura scowled at him. "Touch me one more time, I dare you. Do it, see what happens."

Cale got a wicked grin at this invitation. Whether or not Kayura was his type set aside, the fact was that the body Dais had equipped her with was _quite_ nice. So when Kayura said 'touch me' only one thing came to mind for this very old pervert. And she had no idea what she'd brought on herself.

"ACK!" shouted Kayura, taken totally by surprise as Cale reached over and instead of patting her head, grabbed her ass and squeezed. "CALE! YOU ARE **DEAD**!" she roared as the cackling warlord raced for safety.

"Aw, come on! You offered!" Cale laughed as he ran.

"Just you WAIT until I get my hands on you!"

"Oooh, you know I like it rough!" Cale was having a grand time with this.

Meanwhile as the warlord of darkness and the Lady Ancient ran like maniacs down the sidewalk, exchanging various taunts, threats and insults, Dais was walking at a leisurely pace, still smoking and tuning them out. '_I really need new friends_,' he thought.

-----

The next day was sunny and bright, just like the weather man had promised, making Ryo a very happy ninja. Yes, he did sit around and watch news. When one had to share an apartment with Sage, there wasn't a lot else to do when it was rainy and gray outside. The man didn't even own a deck of cards or even Go!

"Oi!" Ryo said, poking his head into the kitchen. "Sage?"

Sage had his head shoved into his newspaper and was studiously ignoring Ryo's presence. He reasoned that his team leader was like a hallucination and if he didn't pay any attention to it then it would go away. However, Sage's luck did not work like that and pretty soon his newspaper was snatched out of his hands.

"Good morning Sage!" Ryo said brightly, folding the newspaper and casting it into the recycling bin.

"Do you mind?" Sage asked, frowning now. "I was reading that."

"You spend too much time reading," Ryo replied dismissively. "You're turning into another Rowen on us, can't get your head out of a book for five minutes."

Sage opened his mouth to say it was only because the present company sucked but thought the better of it. "Can I please have my paper back?" he asked, straining to remain polite. Really he just wanted it back so he could hit Ryo over the head with it.

"Actually no," Ryo said, arms crossed over his chest smugly at having forced Sage out of his paper force field. "I think you need some fresh air. You're coming with me for a walk."

The blond swordsman was of the opinion that he spent plenty of time with Ryo, having been cooped up with him in the same apartment for five months. Sage's coming marriage was actually good for one thing: Ryo would have to move out. Then again, it was pretty apparent to Sage by this point that he wasn't getting his newspaper back and as he didn't have anything else to be doing today he had no real reason not to go.

As he thought back on it, there was always the option of losing Ryo somewhere in the city. Tokyo was after all a fantastic maze of unmarked, unnamed, zigzagging alleyways, making it perfect for that. One might have thought that Sage's virtue of courtesy would have him be nicer to his teammates, but Sage's virtue was more of 'courtesy where it counted.' As far as Sage was concerned, his sanity was on the line and he had no qualms about ditching Ryo somewhere.

"Alright, I'll go," Sage sighed, throwing up his hands and standing to his feet. "Did you have a destination in mind?"

"No where in particular," Ryo said. "Just thought it would be nice to go out while the weather was enjoyable."

"Then in that case, I think I'll get some grocery shopping done while we're out," Sage said.

"All out of that low fat cool whip?" Ryo teased.

Sage rolled his eyes. Low fat, indeed. Besides, it wasn't his fault he was eating twice as much with Ryo living with him, he was a stress eater, and Ryo tended to produce stress faster than Rowen produced hot air. "Yeah," he said dryly as he took the list and put it in his pocket. "I run out a lot faster with you living here."

"You know, you should really quit acting like you're on a diet," Ryo commented. "You'd look a lot healthier if you did."

Sage gave Ryo a weird stare at this statement. "Thanks, I'm so glad my leader is critiquing my figure," he said dryly. "Don't you have anything better to think about?"

The dark haired man rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "No Sage, let's think about this. I've been trapped in _your_ apartment because of how the weather has been and as a result, so bored that I've been watching the news. Come on, you haven't picking up on this before?"

Sage gave a snort. "Would it have killed you to go out and look for a job? No… just… never mind, are we going or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're going. Off to market then," Ryo said as he proceeded to grab Sage by the sleeve and drag him to the door, barely giving the blond time to grab his wallet and keys.

"Oi! I'm coming, no need to haul me by the scruff," Sage yelped. "Slow down, I have to lock the door."

"Really? I was expecting you to duck around the corner and hide behind the bins in the back," Ryo replied, relenting and giving Sage a chance to properly secure his apartment.

Sage had a lidded look as he pocketed his keys. "I'm not Kento, thanks."

Ryo chortled at this and let it drop as they two of them walked to the elevator and exited the high rise. On their way through Tokyo and to the market, Ryo struggled to find something to talk about. Sage was just too quiet and it unnerved him. Part of the reason that he and the others spent so much time teasing the swordsman was just to try and get some kind of response out of him. It was their version of therapy, blind leading the blind style and for some reason Sage was not responding to treatment.

Luckily for Ryo, he didn't have to strain too hard to come up with fodder for conversation. With Sage, one subject could always be counted on. "So how are things with your family?" he asked, knowing that it wasn't uncommon for them to give him a hard time, resulting in him being a regular tempest in a teapot.

Sage was quiet. He didn't like discussing family matters with his friends as he was extremely close mouthed about them. Then again, Sage was just close mouthed in general, which frustrated them to no end. What got to them most though was that he only seemed to open his mouth to make a smart ass comment that ended up totally blowing them away and then he'd make his sneaky escape while they grappled with what he'd just said.

"Not much," was Sage's reply after the long silence during which he discarded various plans to throw Ryo off the topic.

"Oh god," groaned Ryo. "When you say _not much_…"

"Shut up," Sage said.

"No. What the hell did they do now?"

Another long pause. "I'm getting married," Sage finally said out loud.

"Wh-what?" Ryo stared and then grinned. "Dude, congratulations. I didn't even know you were seeing someone."

"I wasn't," Sage said a bit lowly as he walked with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, looking around at the people nearby without interest. If only he could have seen how much he looked like an albino version of Cale, he would have freaked.

"Well, um," Ryo scrambled to think of what to say after that shock. "Do we get to meet her? Oh! My mistake, we already know the bride." Sage stared at Ryo, almost afraid to see where this was going. The dark haired man grinned, able to see what Sage's look meant and said, "What? You can't seriously call yourself a man, can you? I bet you've even got your wedding kimono picked out."

Sage glowered. "Oh, very witty." His glare over that smart comment was one of his creepiest, as he actually tilted his head so that his blond hair moved aside, making both of his eyes visible.

"Dude, don't do that, it's scary!" Ryo yelped, edging away.

"You're the one being a pain in the ass," he replied testily.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that Cale is the one you want to be a pain in your ass. Wait!" Ryo had realized he had struck upon comic gold. "I'll bet _that's_ who your groom is. You dog, why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Eugh!" Sage made a face. "You really have had too much time on your hands."

"What?" Ryo cackled, as he knew what he said next would get Sage good. "All that sexual tension between you two, we all knew it'd happen."

If he had thought the creepy glare that he'd gotten before was bad, the one he got for that comment was enough to leave him shaking in his boots. "Yeah, all of this and then you guys wonder why I don't tell you anything," Sage grouched, rubbing the point between his eyes.

Ryo was still chortling to himself as he waved Sage's comment off. "I'll try to be good. Keep talking."

Sage didn't find that reassuring at all. If anything, it only worried him more. "I'm not sure I want to," he mumbled. "I'm not even supposed to say anything about it. It's all hush-hush until it's announced a week from now."

"Well, do I get to know who she is? At least tell me how well you know her."

"We've been acquainted since we were little kids," Sage said. "How well I know her really isn't even relevant. She's a nice person, I guess."

Ryo didn't have to be told it was an arranged marriage. Japan is a lot different from western countries in the fact that love is considered vapid and transient, marriage being nothing but a tool to produce more children. Considering that Sage's clan was highly prominent and old fashioned, it came as no surprise that this was happening to him. After all, he was the clan heir and had to marry respectably.

"Are you looking forward to it?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I think I'm just trying to get accustomed to the idea," Sage said, not looking at him but at the city around them. "It's strange to think that pretty soon I'll be married."

For some reason, Ryo just up and started laughing. At Sage's weird look, he could only cackle helplessly. Finally he managed to wheeze out, "Hey, look at it this way. You'll finally get laid!" Yes, this had _just_ occurred to him. He definitely wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Sage slapped a hand to his face and groaned, which only caused Ryo to laugh harder. As the swordsman rubbed at his eyes wearily, he had to wonder why the man felt the need to tease him about that. Especially considering Ryo was as bad about girls as _he_ was! At least Sage could formulate words around them; his leader mysteriously turns into a mute. Well, a mute with a cherry colored face.

Ryo himself almost couldn't breathe as the thought of Sage as a father hit him. "Just wait until she starts popping out those heirs. We'll never hear from you again!"

Sage glowered at Ryo. "I'll tell you who we're never going to hear from again and I'm looking right at him."

"Aw, come on man, you'd make a great dad. No need to be so sore about it," chuckled Ryo, coughing slightly after laughing so hard.

Rolling his violet eyes, Sage replied, "You're turning into an old lady. Is gossiping your new hobby?"

"Well, considering that it's been too wet, rainy and gray to play soccer…." Ryo trailed off and nodded. "Pretty much."

"Great," now Sage was grinning and that meant that Ryo's doom was upon him. "Then I can get you stripped of your armor on basis of the fact that you're no longer male. Get you replaced with someone who's actually sane and maybe I won't have to kill you! ….whoops," Sage put a hand over his mouth. "I didn't mean to say that part."

Ryo was staring at Sage. "You-you-wah-huh? What are you planning?" he stammered in complete confusion and no small amount of worry. There was definitely a reason Sage's silences worried him. The man was plotting.

Sage whistled to himself, walking on ahead of Ryo. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Hey, wait just a minute! What're you – ugh!" Ryo stopped and spat hair out of his mouth, shoving it back. "What the hell is with the wind all of the sudden? It was nice just a few minutes ago."

Sage shrugged, not really minding it. "You're the one who watches the news all the time. Didn't the meteorologist say anything about wind?" Ryo had a lidded look and then dutifully recited off the entire week's forecast and wind factor was negligible. After having to hear this, Sage smirked and patted him on the head. "Either get it cut or start braiding it like a girl."

"Oi, leave my hair alone, would you?" Ryo swatted him away. He shoved his hair back out of his face as it climbed into his mouth for the fourth time. "The hell is going on?" he griped.

The other man was quiet, his senses prickling uncomfortably. Something wasn't right about this storm that was brewing up from apparently now where, but glancing around, he didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. Something told him that it wasn't natural and shouldn't be happening.

"How come your hair doesn't do this?" Ryo demanded, interrupting the Sage's thoughts. He was now holding his hair back in one hand in a make shift pony tail.

"It's too thick," Sage replied, only half listening.

"I think it's all the hair products you use," Ryo muttered. Sage just rolled his eyes slightly at this. All the hair products in his bathroom belonged to Ryo, except his shampoo and conditioner.

"I think someone made Rowen really mad," he commented as if Ryo hadn't spoken.

Ryo blinked, lost by the sudden turn of conversation. "Huh?" And people said he had ADD. Where had that come from?

"I said, someone made Rowen really mad," he repeated, indicating around them. "All the wind."

"Oh." There was a pause before the inevitable smart remark followed. "Someone hid his chocolate."

"More like he woke up and realized his dream about Kayura wasn't real," Sage muttered.

Ryo gave a horrible groan. "I didn't need to know about that."

Sage just smirked. Karma was a bastard. "You have no idea what I have to walk in on him dreaming out loud. I'm about to assign you 'Wake up Ro' duty."

"Ugh, please don't. I don't think I'd survive it."

"No, most likely not," he agreed. "Because he'd get a feel of that long hair of yours and think you were Kayura…" Sage trailed off, grinning in triumph as a look of revulsion spreading across Ryo's face meant he didn't even have to finish the sentence.

"I'm cutting my hair," Ryo said firmly. Suddenly, he gave a loud curse and barely dodged a newspaper that was being propelled at him by winds with a force that could have knocked him right onto his back.

Snickering, Sage said, "One could be led to think that Rowen's mad at _you_ even."

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't be the first time you guys tried to kill me."

Sage opened and closed his mouth, then shook his head. "No comment."

Ryo's remark was cut short as he looked up and saw the dark clouds swirling across the previously clear sky, circling as if swirling towards a drain. Lighting flashed within the murky depths, sending a thrill of worry down his spine. "Sage…" he said slowly, looking over at his teammate.

"I don't understand what's going on any better than you do," replied the blond quietly.

Ryo frowned and decided better safe than sorry, even if he was just being paranoid. He contacted the other guys through the armor links to get them to come. It didn't take telling them twice. Kento was more than ready to take an excuse to get out of the restaurant for the day. Rowen was a bit more difficult, as prying the man out of his books or bed was like pulling teeth. Once he had Cye, he had to ask the man to double check and make sure that Rowen was coming.

"They're on their way," he told Sage, who just nodded.

Sage wasn't at all surprised by his course of action. A feeling in his gut was telling him that something big was about to go down.

-----

"KENTO! Where are you going? You just got here!" Mama Faun called, blinking as her eldest son bussed her cheek and grabbed his jacket, preparing to leave.

"Sorry ma," he said as he shoved his arms into his sleeves and found his shoes. "The guys called, it's an emergency. I'll be back as soon as I can manage."

"Alright, take care of yourself!" she shouted after him as the door was already shutting. She sighed and shook her head, wondering what kind of mayhem he was involved in this time around.

Kento raced over to his motorcycle and swung his leg over it, jamming the key into the ignition and slamming his kick stand up before roaring out like a veritable monster truck. The Honda GL1000 was souped-up, custom painted orange and silver and was probably the only object that Kento favored. It was his baby, his pride and joy, and at the moment his sole transportation to where the excitement was.

That was where he was heading, too, at speeds that would have made Sage proud. He thought he caught sight of Cye's little blue car but he didn't slow down to look twice. He wasn't going to let Ryo and puff head have all of the fun. After that Mukala incident, Kento had made sure he'd be able to get there quickly, before Ryo stole all the shirtless screen time, so to speak.

Cye didn't so much as frown or purse his lips at seeing Kento go blasting by. He was too busy trying to get through the traffic to get there himself. "Fucking HELL!" swore the mild mannered man, slamming a hand onto his steering wheel and honking. At the end of his patience, he said, "Screw this," before jerking his car to he right.

He did it so fast that Rowen, dozing in the passenger seat, slammed his head into the window and saw stars up close and personal. Cye either didn't notice or didn't care as he turned his mini up onto the sidewalk, flying around the obstructing construction and back onto his path.

"I'm awake Cye, you didn't have to knock me into the door," Rowen said, rubbing his sore head.

"It wasn't intentional, it was just a happy accident," Cye said tersely, as he wove through traffic. He was thanking the gods his car was small.

"Jeeze and here I thought I was crotchety in the morning," Rowen muttered, hanging onto his door as Cye drove like a maniac. Despite all of the chaos, he was still beginning to doze back off.

Cye took care of this problem as he just so happened to cut a particularly sharp corner, resulting in Rowen's head once again cracking against the glass. The Ronin of Torrent seemed oblivious to Rowen's pain, more concerned with getting there. Maybe if he was lucky, his head would hurt too much to make any obvious statements.

------

Ryo was standing beside Sage, alert but not acting yet. Nothing had given them a reason to call out their subarmor but that didn't mean they weren't poised to do so. A growl at his side made him look down, a smile coming to his face as he saw the huge white tiger standing beside him. Reaching down, he ran a hand through White Blaze's thick fur in greeting. He always felt surer of himself with the large cat nearby. The tiger looked up at Ryo and nudged his knee before turning back to survey the clouds. For him to have made an appearance in public did not bode well with the young man. White Blaze avoided making a scene if at all possible, which meant he had sensed something serious.

Sage glanced down at the cat and then back up at the sky. The entire situation drew and uncomfortable sense of déjà vu for him, remembering Talpa's takeover. This brought up a chilling thought in itself. "You don't think it could be…"

"Don't," said Ryo. "Don't jinx it." His eyes were drawn to the left as he could have sworn he saw something move beneath the pitch black clouds.

Sage himself had tensed up and at that moment a loud crash resounded, signaling a building was falling, before something began flickering under the clouds. It was like a video, trying to form a complete picture but was too obscured by static. Finally though, all became clear as an archway that stood as tall as a skyscraper became discernible. A horrible dust cloud came up around it as nearby buildings were knocked down by its sudden entrance, the wide, lichen and rune covered stone slabs came into sight with the dust clearing.

Ryo's mouth fell open, now dry. Was he seeing things? Had he finally lost it? "Is that a…"

"It can't be," Sage's eyes were wide and his face pale. "A dragon? In _Tokyo_?"

It was indeed. It was easily as big as one of the buildings the arch had crushed, with a spike-clad tail the size of four subway trains lashing curiously behind it. Opening its mouth, it sent out a loud, deep roar that drenched the surrounding area in steam and smoke. Sage and Ryo could only stare, too flabbergasted to think of how to act. Then White Blaze's loud growl served to pull them back to their senses, as the tiger crouched and glared up at the massive beast.

The dragon seemed oblivious to them thus far. Lizard like eyes took in its new surroundings with evident interest as he tilted its head to look around. A moment or two of observing was followed by a long forked tongue slipping out to taste the air. This proved to be too much for Sage.

"Ugh!" he shuddered. "It's doing that snakey thing with its tongue!"

Ryo hardly paid any mind to this, already calling his subarmor out. "Quit daydreaming Sage! We can't let this thing loose on the city."

Sage was pulled back to reality and he nodded, summoning his own. Where this had come from or why set aside, they had to keep it from smashing down the entire ward and worse. "Let's go!" he said, as they ran towards the dragon.

Golden scales glinted dully in the stormy half light as the dragon lifted one hugged clawed foot to step out into the city. People were scattering, screaming, but it paid them little mind. This new, exciting place held numerous opportunities for him and he was highly curious about what humans had come up with to make up for their lack of magic. However, his intended downtown stroll was interrupted when a small voice from below caught his attention.

"Hey! Go back to where you came from!" Ryo shouted at the top of his lungs, even as the other three Ronin came running. They were already in subarmor, ready to back up their leader. The dragon finally caught sight of them and gave a huff of disgust. Were these insects seriously challenging him?

"Holy shit," whispered Rowen, staring up at the enormous creature. "How… how is this possible?" he asked, gaping.

"We fought demons as fourteen year olds," Kento snorted, not wasting time with useless questions like that. He already had his naginata out to get down to business. "Get over yourself Rowen."

"We don't have time for bickering!" Ryo shouted as the dragon ignored them, stepping out of the arch. Each footfall caused a miniature earthquake; tremors causing buildings to shake on their foundations and the Ronin were brought to their knees as the earth jumped under them.

"We have to do something!" said Sage, fighting to get back up against the waves on the earth's surface. "Before it flattens the entire ward!"

"Someone think of a way to stop it!" cried Cye.

"Planning is my job!" yelled Rowen, staggering to his feet.

"Then get to it," shot back Kento, the only one not affected by the violently shaking ground, keeping his balance easily. It was his element, after all.

"Rowen, tell Kento where he can hit it," shouted Ryo. "Since he can get up!"

"Ah," Rowen scrounged his brain for a scrap of pertinent information. "Dragons are supposed to be impervious to magic, but their weak spot… try for the under arms!"

"Got it!" shouted Kento, who was already moving. Of all of them, he had the best idea of what was happening. This was mostly because of his geekish knowledge of television, mangas and the anime he watched. To him, all of this was great fun and he was grinning as he leapt around to locate a good point to attack from, feeling like he had the chance to actually be _in_ one of his video games.

However, Kento's plan ended as the naginata's blade merely glanced off the scales. "Huh?" he blinked, his surprise nearly killing him. He hesitated and barely managed to dodge an annoyed flick of the dragon's tail.

A snort of steam and smoke met this attack. The dragon looked down at the gathered Ronin, pausing in place long enough for them to stand up, weapons raised. Gleaming red eyes lowered to their level to take them in, though he didn't appear impressed by a long shot. '_Humans_,' he thought. '_Always the same. But why are they dressed like little color coded beetles?_'

"What the hell is the deal with this thing?" demanded an outraged Kento, as if his naginata had been turned aside by a cow, not a seven story dragon.

"This isn't even possible to begin with!" replied Rowen, still very much miffed about Kento telling him to get over himself. "How am I supposed to-"

"It is completely possible, thank you very much," rumbled a deep, throaty voice.

Ryo blinked. Who had said that?

"And I'm not a _thing_, I'm an Eldar and my name is Srutch."

"…bloody hell," swore Cye, staring.

"It spoke? This thing fucking TALKS?!" swore Rowen. "What in the name of-" The rest of his sentence was lost as the dragon gave an impatient growl and tossed Rowen aside with a careless flick of one claw. The archer slammed into a concrete wall and moved no more.

"OI!" Now that annoyed Cye. No one got to beat up the annoying archer but _him_! "Now look here, cinder breath!" Cye shouted as he pulled out his yari. "Only _I_ get to do that to him! Time for a cold shower!"

"Shit!" swore Kento, getting out of Cye's way fast. It was never a good idea to be in the man's way when he was angry and Kento wasn't too keen on drowning that day.

"Supa wave smasha!" called out Cye, pausing as nothing happened. "Goddamnit!" he swore, before charging the dragon. Defective yari or not, he'd bloody well take out an eye. There weren't any scales THERE!

-----

Elsewhere, the warlords were having an equally interesting fight, against a herd of unicorns no less. Except these unicorns had never been informed that they were supposed to be fluffy, cute, and let small children ride on their backs and pull on their manes without holding a grudge. No, these weren't the friendly kind at all, a deadly mistake to make about them.

Eerie, glowing orange eyes burned with feted hatred, iron hooves clattering on pavement as they lowered ivory horns against any unwitting warm body. They had attacked anything that moved, including the warlords, and so far the fight was barely even. Against an enemy that had no concept of honor or tradition in battle, they were having a far harder time keeping up.

Cale's sword clashed against one's horn, wrenching it up and throwing it aside. The claws on his armored hand managed to block another. He grit his teeth as he was forced to run it through, wondering when he'd become enlisted in animal control. Even the demon horses of the Nether Realm weren't _this_ bad tempered, or at least not around him.

The others were in similar situations. Dais' nunchuku were slamming one after another upside the head, while Sekhmet tore through them with his swords. Kayura and her kusari-gama were off elsewhere. "Is there no end to this?" growled out Cale.

"Be glad there aren't any more little girls running up, thinking they'll be friendly," grunted Dais, tearing up another one as it went to bite his ass.

"Hey look!" Sekhmet actually laughed. "Dais, they're into you!"

The man cast his one blue eye in Sekhmet's direction. "You're just jealous that no one likes you that much."

"Mmmm, ass biting. Now that takes me back," Cale said reminiscently. Looking over, he caught sight of the disgusted looks on the other's faces and started laughing. "You've never had that done to you, Rajura? Come on now, don't lie!"

Dais could only shake his head at his companion. "No, I leave the bondage stuff to you, Cale," he said.

"Oh, that's right. You like your abuse in a more casual-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" bellowed Sekhmet, seconded by Kayura.

"We don't want to know what you two perverts do on your nights off!" shouted Kayura, between ripping off unicorn's head. Honestly, couldn't they think of anything more serious to talk about? Like WHY this was going on in the first place? "Can it!"

Cale's laughter was downright creepy at that. Wiggling his eyebrows suggestively to Kayura, he said, "I could show you, if you'd like." After all, she was quite the attractive young woman now.

"Cale, shut your trap or I'll make sure you forget what intelligent thought is!" warned Sekhmet. While he would never have admitted to it, he was quite protective of Kayura, whom he'd come to think of as a younger, albeit extremely violent sister.

"You mean he had a grasp of intelligent though to begin with?" Dais snorted in amusement.

"Eh, you're both just jealous you don't have my killer good looks and charm," Cale tossed back.

"One battle, just ONE battle without the sexual innuendo, that's ALL I ask!" Kayura growled.

Dais chuckled slightly. "Sorry, Kay. I think we'd have to kill Cale before he'd ever quit thinking about sex."

"You don't have any room to talk, you're just as bad!" she barked in agitation.

"Am not!" protested Dais. "Cale's the only one that thinks his sex should on national television!"

"It should!" Cale brought in. "Come on, how many guys get to perfect their method for over four hundred years?"

"Ugh! Not this conversation AGAIN!" That did it; Sekhmet had dealt with this quite long enough. Upon later reflection, Kayura really had no idea how Sekhmet got up to Cale as fast as he did, proceeding to grab the man by his helmet and yank him around. "Here horsie, horsie, horsie!" he called, shaking Cale so he couldn't defend himself. "Don't be shy, doggie meat is good for you!"

"ACK! SEKHMET!" Cale shouted, wide eyed as a unicorn lined up to run him through. "Are you MAD?! Let GO!"

"I need a cigarette break," Dais was mumbling, trying to ignore them. "I don't get paid enough for this."

Sekhmet waited until the unicorn was inches away before tossing Cale aside bodily and killing the mutant equine. As of yet he had no real intentions to murder Cale. But making him _think_ he was usually got him off the long, overdone topic of sex. If his teammates thought he was off his rocker enough to actually kill them, maybe they wouldn't torment him so much. He didn't think his luck worked that way, but it was worth a shot.

"Sekhmet! How could you?" Cale asked looking hurt that his long time companion would almost kill him. "After all we've been through!"

Sekhmet ignored him. Four hundred years of him endlessly talking about sex is what they'd been through. Instead, he grit out to himself between unicorns, "When is this going to end?"

Whatever Cale or anyone else may have said, it was lost on Sekhmet's ears, now blocking them out. It was something he found himself doing so that he didn't go on a psychotic killing rampage every other day because of how they acted. Honestly though, he would have killed them first and gone straight to the root of the problem. He might possibly leave Kayura out of it, though she was as bad as they were about antagonizing him.

Turning his thoughts away from the continued bickering, he had to wonder how on earth the activity started on his day off. Really, what were the odds? He hadn't even had to worry about who was going to think he was skipping work. Cale worked nights and so did Dais, so aside from being exceedingly exhausted they shouldn't have too much trouble. As for Kayura… Sekhmet had no idea if or where she worked.

Even though he'd be a crabby mess tomorrow at the station, he was still grateful for the entertainment. He hadn't expected to be. His armor had been something he'd dreaded after the years of using it under Talpa's rule, for reasons Cale and Dais couldn't even begin to understand. An involuntary shudder crept down his spine, remembering the sick voice that had corrupted his mind and soul through the power it had used.

That set aside, it had been too long and too quiet, forcing him to turn to more devious pass times. The same could be said for others that he knew of. Especially after Dais had him convinced for an entire week that he was turning into a woman. His eye seemed to twitch at the memory of suddenly having DD breasts. His teammates were the perverts to end all perverts.

To be fair, Dais hadn't been the only one with devious hobbies. Sekhmet's mutant attack chickens had gotten out of his laboratory one day and launched a full scale assault on Cale. Sekhmet never did understand why they had forced him to abandon his chicken army. He still regarded it as an excellent scientific advancement, the fact that they could bring down the warlord of darkness and infect him so he sprouted feathers was simply an added bonus. He also didn't get why they'd made him find an antidote. He'd thought the beak and plumage was an improvement on Cale.

Then there was the time that Cale decided he was going to keep everyone up by howling at the moon. They still blamed Sekhmet for that, even though the green haired samurai had been the first to dose him up with sleeping drought so he could go back to bed. Apparently, none of them shared Sekhmet's suspicions that he wasn't the only hanyou in the group. Either that or Kayura's Shinjuku had finally knocked all sense out of Cale's head.

All in all, the Nether Realm had dissolved into a psycho's funhouse and Sekhmet was more than glad for a break in that routine. Though it left the troubling matter of just _what_ was going on. This was like no invasion Sekhmet had ever heard of and what's more, these were not Dynasty gates. The Nether Realm was the only other dimension he knew of and if they weren't coming from there, then _where_?

"Dais," Sekhmet spoke up, cutting across the innuendo war he was having with Cale. "Are there any other alternate dimensions that you know of where these creatures could be coming from?"

Dais blinked and then frowned. He took a moment to think but ultimately shook his head. "No. Kayura?"

Her response was the same. "I've never heard of another. That is a worrisome thought, though."

"Basically, we have no idea what's going on, why or where they're coming from," summed up Cale, finishing by saying dryly, "Reassuring. Oh so very reassuring."

Dais head lifted suddenly. "There's another arch like this open on the other side of town!"

"WHAT?!" demanded Kayura.

"It's been open for a while but I couldn't sense it before now," he said, looking distressed by this fact. Were their armors on their way out? Dais didn't care for a repeat of last time.

"Should I go?" Cale asked immediately.

Biting back the comment that he just hoped to see Sage, Kayura said, "No, that that's ok. You can stay here and get your ass kicked by rabid unicorns with the rest of us."

"For what little good that'll do," muttered Cale.

"Someone's still sore about losing to the fourteen year olds," chuckled Kayura.

"That put aside," Dais said. "I have a bad feeling about how the magic levels are fluctuating."

Sekhmet looked up, holding off a unicorn with two swords crossed in front of his chest. "Oh, don't tell me…"

"We need to get out of harm's way then," Kayura said wisely, pulling back her kusari-gama. "I'd rather not be skewered on a unicorn's horn."

"She's too young to die, she hasn't gotten Rowen in bed yet," snickered Cale.

"Cale! This is serious, stop joking!" snapped Dais in a rare moment of temper. "We won't be able to stop these things if-"

Too late. No noise preceded it, no warning of any sort. Just like last time, Dais found himself without any armor. He was now in his street clothes with nothing but his nunchuku between him and the blood lusting equines.

"Get out, now!" shouted Kayura, grabbing Cale by the sleeve. "We're no good to the humans if we're dead!"

Reluctant though he was to admit it, Sekhmet knew Kayura was right. Battles weren't all brazen attacks, but also retreating when the advantage was no longer yours. Giving the horses one last look of loathing, he turned and chased after the others to get out of reach. He hated to think of how many innocents would die, though, because they hadn't been able to stop them.

Up on top of a building roof, the four of them exchanged meaningful looks. They had to get to the bottom of this. Preferably before half the city was dead from whatever showed up next. Seeing a huge golden dragon fly off in the horizon gave them a chilling sense of how much trouble they were in.


	9. Chapter Eight

Pure, unabridged mayhem. Please R&R, it'll make my day and maybe convince me to keep posting chapters :P

**Chapter Eight**

"Shit, my head is killing me," groaned Rowen, who sat in one of Cye's armchairs with his face hidden in a couch pillow.

"Couldn't have anything to do with being smashed bodily into the side of a cement building, could it?" Ryo asked dryly. The outcome of their latest battle had put all of them on edge and he was no exception.

Sage was perched on the arm of a couch, nursing an icepack but had to throw in his two cents as well. "No, it hurts because his brain cells are imploding at the absurdity of fighting a dragon."

"And being dumb enough to directly insult the dragon," snorted Kento. He had his arms crossed behind his head and his eyes shut to rest them. Out of all of those gathered he had sustained the least amount of damage. Not surprising, given the amount of familiarity he had with dragons in fiction and television. Plus he had enough common sense to evade the massive talons that Rowen had been smacked into a wall by. He wasn't intentionally being mean about it either, he just honestly couldn't believe that someone so intelligent could also be so _stupid_.

"Oi, would you lot simmer down?" Cye grumbled. His arm had been broken in several places during his assault on the dragon but Sage had been kind enough to heal it for him after the beast had grown tired of them and flown off. After that, Cye had led them back to his apartment to regroup. As it was he was too exhausted to be interested in their bickering.

"Are you alright?" Kento frowned, reaching over to feel Cye's temperature.

The Ronin of Torrent batted his hand away impatiently. "I'm fine."

The other man raised a brow at this. "Maybe so but since when do you stop us from picking on Ro?"

"Because I'm bloody tired, frustrated, it's way past 5 o'clock and I still haven't had a drink," was his blunt reply, a mutinous look on his face. Cye drank like a fish, more out of enjoyment of it than addiction. He could feel an addiction coming on though, if things continued in this vein.

"Yeah, I think we all need to chill out," Ryo nodded. "Sitting here fighting with each other isn't going to solve anything."

They were quiet for a few moments after that, probably more out of shock that he was acting his age than because they actually intended to follow his advice. Given five minutes of quiet, it appeared that Rowen had fallen asleep. Cye was either deep in thought or blocking them all out and Kento had his eyes shut once more. Sage was sitting as quietly as ever, taking on the appearance of a stature. Ryo sat back and allowed himself to relax as they had settled down finally.

His relief was short lived as Cye sat up and declared loudly, "You're right, Ryo. We need a distraction. Come on, mates. We're going to the bar."

"You sound like an alcoholic," came Rowen's muffled voice from under the pillow. "We need rest, not a hangover."

"Given the circumstances, I think a drink is in order," Cye said firmly. "Doctor's orders. Chop chop, let's go!"

"Saki and women," snickered Kento. "Hell of a treatment plan, Cye."

"I didn't say anything about women," Cye rolled his eyes. "You inserted that part on your own."

"Anything that involves you, a bar and saki also involves women," Kento slung an arm around Cye's shoulders. "Lead the way, Ol' buddy ol' pal."

The auburn haired man had a lidded look. "Like I'd put a woman through the trauma of knowing you."

"Hey," Kento looked offended. "Women love me, man. Look," he flexed a muscled arm to demonstrate.

"What do you want, a kiss?" Cye shoved him off. "Don't act so gay."

Kento laughed at him, getting into Cye's car and forcing the smaller guys to pack up like sardines to make room for him. "Aw baby, that burns."

Sage rolled his eyes and interrupted them to say, "We aren't exactly dressed for a night out." Somehow, the Ronin of Halo had procured the front seat entirely for himself, though it might be attributed to the creepy violet glare that any one that so much as _thought_ as squeezing in received.

"That won't matter where we're going," Cye replied calmly.

The drive was short and also on the violent side. The Torrent Ronin's love for the accelerator was almost as bad as Sage's affliction. In fact, Sage was the only one unaffected by the sharp corners and fast stops and then flying off again. Ryo looked like he was going to be sick, while Rowen was clinging to the door for dear life, clearly not desiring a second concussion. Kento had his window down to enjoy the breeze and one hand firmly clamped on the window to keep from falling against the other men and smashing them into jelly. Cye would have had a fit if he ruined his leather seats.

It wasn't the best or the most sensitive way of transporting the dazed men but the Ronin of Torrent wasn't to be deterred by such sentiments. He wasn't just going to the bar for a drink anyway, there was someone he needed to check on. The battle had taken place in the middle of town and if his friends had been hurt by the rampaging unicorns, he would be a very pissed Brit and a pissed Brit is a scary Brit.

Ryo was surprised when Cye pulled to a halt only a few blocks from where they had fought earlier. More surprising was the fact that the streets here bore signs of fighting. Had another gate opened that he hadn't been aware of? Of course, the Ronin hadn't gone home and watched the 5 o'clock news to see that they and the warlords had made headlines.

"You weren't kidding about it not mattering how we looked," Sage grimaced, eyeing the dingy bar front skeptically.

"It might not be quite as upscale as you're used to but it makes up for it in coziness," Cye assured him as they got out.

"I find myself doubting that," mumbled Ryo, nearly tumbling out of the car after that harrowing ride. He wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure that the horizon was supposed to be… horizontal. Not Diagonal.

Cye didn't let them linger, he was herding them inside just as fast as his dizzy and slightly seasick charges would move. At the least, Sage was relieved to see that the interior was well lit. The glasses looked clean too, despite the bar tender's appearance that he didn't know what soap was. Kento also did a once over of the establishment and decided that any women here had diseases that he didn't want to mess with. Cye was looking around as well but for different reasons as he steered them to a table.

"This should be an experience," Rowen muttered as he flopped into a seat.

"It'll be an education for you," smirked Kento, tossing himself carelessly into a chair. He seemed oblivious to it creaking ominously under his weight as he scanned the people in the bar.

Cye's pensive expression gave away to relief as the waitress approached. "Hey Addy," he greeted, happy to see she looked alright. She had always seemed to need someone to look after her and he had never thought she would do well in a bar environment. He'd also been worried about her getting caught up in the chaos. Call him paranoid but women had a way of dying around them. "You look good."

"And people call _me_ a flirt," Rowen muttered, wincing as Cye's hand connected with the back of his previously wounded head.

"I can't say the same for you," Addy eyed the rumpled Ronin, completely ignoring Rowen's comment. Cye was only a friend. "You look like you got put through the wringer."

He gave a tired chuckle. "It's been a long day."

"Looks like it," she frowned. "What can I get you to drink? And maybe food. He looks awful pale," she pointed her pencil at Sage.

"He always look like that," said Kento, grinning at her.

"A round of Saki for everyone and bring whatever you think looks edible," Cye said. "Triple portions for those two," he pointed to Rowen and Kento.

"Are you putting me on a diet, Cye?" Kento had to ask. "Think I'm getting fat?"

He rolled his eyes and revised his previous statement. "Fine, make it five portions for him."

"Do you think I'm fat?" Kento asked Addy, unable to resist the opportunity.

She paused, glanced up at him and then tucked her notepad back into her apron pocket. "No comment," she said, deciding to stay neutral amidst the testosterone. Or estrogen, as it would seem. "I'll be back with your drinks in a minute."

Kento fixed Cye with a speculative look as she departed. He'd always known his friend to be a ladies' man but it hadn't really sunk in how _much_ of one until now. "Hey man," Kento elbowed him. "What's up with the lack of introductions? And how come you never brought me here before?" By all appearances, he had changed his mind about the women here. The waitress didn't seem like she'd be that loose, it was something about her reserved attitude.

Cye pushed the elbow away with a frown. "I can answer both at once by saying I wouldn't subject a woman to you lot."

"Pfft, you're just being selfish with the women," Kento said. Cye looked like he was developing an eye twitch.

"Addy would break bones if someone touched her," Cye said flatly. Whether or not this was from personal experience, he didn't comment. "Don't even think about it. Actually, if _she_ doesn't kill you then I will."

"Cye's got a cruuuuush," Kento grinned.

"Not quite," he answered calmly, eyes following a blond girl from across the room. "She's more along the lines of a sister."

"Guys, pipe down," Ryo was frowning, straining to hear what the television news broadcast was saying off the tiny television in the back corner.

"You really want to hear the news guy talking about how we got out asses handed to us?" Rowen asked dubiously, glancing back at the news anchor and then at Ryo. Sage must have brainwashed him while he had him in captivity. Ryo _never_ watched the news unless it was a sports broadcast.

"It's not that," Sage commented. "There was only one brief snippet about armored vigilantes. They're too busy talking about the dragon and… unicorns."

There was a pause at the table as everyone present absorbed this and wondered if Sage was pulling another one over on them. Kento and Cye exchanged looks and Rowen was scrutinizing him heavily, trying to force his way into the blond's brain to see if he was being truthful or just dicking with their heads. Sage seemed to notice the attempted brainrape because he looked up and one glare from the visible violet eye caused Rowen to give a sheepish smile and wave, trying to act innocent.

"I'm not joking," Sage said.

"He isn't," Ryo backed him up. "There was a herd of unicorns that were out for blood."

"If we hadn't fought a talking dragon this afternoon, I'd say you two had gone cookoo," Rowen stated.

"Aren't unicorns… pink and friendly?" Kento asked. "Like the ones in my little sister's stories?"

Chun-Fa, his youngest sister, adored him and had long ago decided that no one else was allowed to read her bed time stories to her. Kento, being a devoted sibling, had dutifully read the exact same My Little Pony books to her every night for the past three years and she still showed no sign of releasing him from the duty. Naturally, he had the stories seared into his memory and could have recited them off the top of his head; not something an adult man would be proud of.

"Apparently not these ones," Sage said dryly. Their conversation was put on standby by Adastreia bringing their drinks. She set them around the table and then departed as quickly as she'd come before Kento could make any odd comments. "Another gate must have opened near here," Sage continued, frowning and ignoring the Saki in front of him. He was annoyed he'd only caught the tail end of the broadcast. "I can't believe I didn't pick up on that happening."

"I can," Rowen answered. "As soon as that gate opened, the armors went all static-y and then gave out altogether. It makes sense to me."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" Sage queried.

Rowen was quiet and fidgeted before asking, "Did it work?"

"Slightly," the blond man chuckled.

* * *

"Vicky," Addy poked her in the shoulder as she walked over. "Cye is here. He brought his friends this time."

Victoria looked up from the register and grinned. "Really? Wow, he hasn't stopped by in quite some time."

"Tell me about it. Go say hi or he'll feel neglected," Adastreia smirked.

"Screw that, I'll skip directly to the guilt trip," Vicky said, finishing what she'd been doing. "Little shit vanishes without a word for a month. Made me think he'd left the city."

"You're in a good mood today," Miniko said to Adastreia as she walked up to the bar. "What's the occasion?"

"Dais isn't here and Cye came back. What more does a girl need out of life? Aside from maybe a decent paycheck," was Adastreia's slightly snarky comment.

Tsukina laughed as she approached to ring up a patron's bill. "Addy, you sound like a groupie."

Addy waved this off, not appearing concerned. "I'm allowed to be happy that a guy with manners stumbled back into this hole."

"You know he comes to see you," Tsukina said, lips twitching.

"To make sure I'm still alive maybe," Addy wasn't eager to dwell on the subject. "Anyhow, I need help carrying their food. A few of his friends are big eaters."

Vicky gave her an odd look. "Just make two trips." This wasn't a busy time in the bar but the girls still had plenty to do to get things tidied up and around in time for closing.

"No, you don't get it. I said big eaters," Adastreia reiterated. "Three meals for one, five for another."

"Holy shi-" Tsukina forgot that she was in public for a moment.

"Who can eat all of that?" Miniko asked, eyes wide.

"Got me," she shrugged. "But they ordered it."

"We'll help," said Miniko, nodding.

"Thank you," Adastreia sighed in relief.

Victoria was already craning her neck to scope them out and going by the look on her face, she liked what she saw. Miniko beat her to the comment though, giving a low whistle. "Wow, Cye's got some fine looking friends."

Vicky elbowed her, snickering in agreement. "I'll say. Look at the body builder! Holy cow."

"We're not in India, we don't worship cows," Adastreia said dryly. She was rather embarrassed by how openly her friends inspected the local eye candy.

"Oh shush, you know you were looking too," Miniko teased. "You're as female as the rest of us, just less willing to admit it."

Adastreia rolled her eyes and chose to ignore them. Her day without the creepy pirate wannabe would not be spoiled. "Go on, get back to work," she waved them off, picking up finished orders to take to other waiting customers. At the looks she got, she shook her head. "Sorry, it's been a long week."

"Are you talking about the weird stuff that was on the news today?" Miniko asked.

"Yes," she said. That was hardly her entire problem but her troubles weren't theirs and four heads worrying weren't any better than one.

Tsukina patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she said. "It's probably some kind of April Fool's Joke."

Vicky arched an eyebrow. "How do you figure that?"

"You know what people can do with computer graphics these days," she answered. "We'll probably find out it was all a hoax in a few days."

"What about the wrecked buildings and streets?" Vicky frowned. Apparently she'd rather been hoping for the stories to be true. Rabid unicorns? If they chased hot guys into the bar, she was all for them.

"Car crashes," she said immediately, clearly having thought this through. "Come on you guys, do you really believe all of that?"

Addy said nothing, her expression was unreadable. Miniko just shrugged and Vicky said, "We'll see."

The girls' work evening was relatively uneventful. They tended tables, carried drinks and tactfully rebuked the curious hands of the odd drunk. Tactfully meaning Adastreia sent one man to the emergency room for his broken wrist. "I don't know what they think they're grabbing," she fumed to them. "There's nothing HERE!" she pointed to her chest. "I think they'd seriously try to molest a phone pole if it was nearby."

Vicky just patted her shoulder. "We've been over this a hundred times. All they care about is the input slot."

Addy made a face. "And you wonder why I have no hope for humanity."

"Nah," Tsukina said cheerfully. "That's just you."

"I love you too," she said dryly, heading to the Ronin table to clean up the dishes and glasses.

"We know," Miniko chimed in, the three other girls so used to her attitude that they simply ignored it. They were following her to the table not so much to help but to further investigate these new guys.

Of course, by this point in the evening, Cye was quite drunk. In fact, all of them were sufficiently liquored up that they were talking and laughing at the stupidest things at the top of their lungs. The only exception was Sage, currently the object of their merriment as his first glass of Saki sat untouched in front of him. The man looked like he was stuck baby sitting a crowd ofrowdy orangutans and was none too pleased.

"You going to drink that or not?" laughed Ryo. "It's not for decoration Sage."

"Maybe it is," Rowen erupted in cackles at what he would say next. "He's using it like a mirror to stare at the girls he likes."

"Ha! Sage, who knew you liked girls!" Kento chimed in. "I thought all this time that you were saving yourself for Cale!"

Sage had sat calmly through their jeers and taunts, his facial expression unmoving. It was as if he was deep in meditation. How he could meditate in that atmosphere, one could only wonder. The man was probably very well practiced at it to have remained the only sane one in the group. Still, for all the calm that the Date heir exhibited, Kento's remark about Cale brought his eyes down from the ceiling. Now, one must realize that the heavy built Ronin of Hardrock liked to goof off but by no means was he stupid. Sage returning his gaze to him was all it took for Kento to realize that he was in trouble but by then it was too late. The table wobbled and then tipped, dumping everyone's drinks and plates onto Kento. The more amazing part was how everyone instantly blamed _Kento_ for it.

"Kento!" shouted Cye. "Goddamn, can't you NOT cause a disaster for one night?!"

"What the hell, man?" cried Rowen, horrified to find his apple martini on Kento's head. He'd been attempting to sample one of every drink the bar offered and that had been his tenth.

"Why did you lean on the table like that?" chorused Sage, the only one sober enough to see that Kento hadn't even been _touching_ the table when it tipped. He had his eyebrow raised in the most innocently, sardonic manner too.

Kento spluttered in frustration. "Sage, I swear to God, I'm gonna GET you for this!"

"For what?" Sage asked, glancing up as Addy and the other girls walked over. "He might need some extra napkins. Actually, do you have a hose behind the counter? That might be more effective."

Addy paused, taking in the carnage. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting your male bonding time?"

Sage snorted in reply. "No, not at all. By the way, he can pay for what he broke. His family owns Faun Chinese."

Kento by this point had his eyes on Addy, grinning drunkenly. "Gonna give me a bath, sweetheart?"

Vicky could only shake her head. "How much as he had to drink?" she inquired. Addy in the meantime answered Kento's question by dropping a pile of napkins on his head before she, Tsukina and Miniko started cleaning up the mess.

"He doesn't have enough fingers and toes to count and tell you," Sage answered, evidently he was still holding Kento's Cale remark against him.

"Hey babe," Kento smiled, standing up to get Vicky's attention. "Do me a favor and get cranky pants another drink. He needs to lighten up," he pointed to the swordsman that had been none too sad to see his drink tumble onto Kento with the rest of the table's contents.

Vicky wasn't sure what to think of Cye's whacked friends by this point. "Sure thing," she said, turning and leaving.

Kento, still a good guy despite being drunk off his ass, turned to try and help the girls clean up. He wasn't the best help in his current state and broke a few more dishes than had been to begin with when he stumbled. The girls breathed a collective sigh of relief when he opted just to let them clean up the mess before he broke something else. Then instead, he decided to clean himself up and his method of doing so was simply to yank off his shirt.

Tsukina's jaw fell open. Miniko stared in obvious appreciation and even Adastreia turned the color of a ripe tomato at the exposed chest. Under ordinary circumstances, Kento would have been embarrassed and even annoyed by all the attention that was suddenly focused on him but being drunk had a way of changing that. Smiling, he gave a slightly unsteady wave to the astounded women before using the napkins to dry off the remaining alcohol.

"Holy Jesus," whispered Tsukina, the devout Catholic.

Vicky, walking over with a fresh round of drinks, nearly dropped them when she saw the shirtless Ronin of Hardrock, barely remembering to put the tray on the table. "Wow," she whispered.

"Kento, put some goddamn clothes on!" glared Cye. "You're taking up all the ladies' attention!"

Kento just snickered. "So take off your own shirt!"

Cye brightened at this thought and Addy's eyes widened. "Cye! Don't-" but it was too late.

As an adult, Cye had filled out. As a swimmer and a spearman, he wasn't a skinny fourteen year old anymore. Of course, him stripping was just like pouring oil on the fire. The next thing Sage knew, all of his teammates were doffing their shirts. The Ronin of Halo put a hand over his face, ignoring the entire tray of drinks in front of him. No amount of therapy would make up for this trauma.

"I don't know any of you," he mumbled.

Ryo was laughing, flushed from too many drinks as he pushed the Saki at Sage. "Just drink, you need to loosen up."

The blond swordsman gave him a bored look. "Loosen up or lose my clothes?"

"Both!" chimed in Vicky, on a hot guy overload.

Addy meanwhile looked more horrified than Sage, hiding her face in her hands. Kento, seeing this, took it upon himself to reassure her and he hooked an arm around her, dragging her into his lap. "Chill out," he said into her ear. Needless to say, it had the opposite of the desired effect. Addy looked frozen stiff with fear, caught between bolting and hoping that if she stayed very still, he wouldn't notice her.

However, relief had arrived. "Hey! Knock it off!" growled the bouncer. "You guys, put your damn clothes back on."

"Aw, but it's too hot in here for them!" complained Rowen.

"Would you rather I toss your ass out to cool off on the street?" the man's eyes narrowed. Because of the distraction, no one noticed Addy sneaking off, or her towing Vicky along with her.

By some work of miracle, the Ronin located their shirts and put them back on. Kento, whose shirt had been ruined, got creative with the napkins that Adastreia had left behind. Laughing like an idiot, he pasted one over each nipple on his chest. Then he claimed he was just as modest as any of the women and that the bouncer had no problem with them being half naked. He was pleased with his logic and even more pleased that the girls were laughing hysterically at the prissy attitude with which he'd said it.

The bouncer was much less amused.

To make him shut up, Kento pasted napkins to the rest of his torso. "There," he held his hands up, sniffing disdainfully for added effect. "You've caged my freedom, you medieval pig," he said, looking thoroughly miffed. Tsukina and Miniko were holding their sides from laughing so hard as tears streamed out of their eyes.

The bouncer rolled his eyes at the gay display. "I don't get paid enough for this," he muttered, writing them off as lunatics and heading back to his post.

As those around him applauded, Kento stood and gave another bow. "Thank you, thank you," he said with a big, goofy grin.

"Are you an actor?" Miniko asked, wheezing.

"No, he's naturally retarded," Sage informed.

"Okay, that does it," Tsukina announced. She picked up a glass of Saki from in front of Sage, "Open up, you need this."

"So I'll pass out and my fangirls can rape me?" Sage asked with one cocked eyebrow.

"Bottoms up, mister delightful," she snorted, grabbing him by the back of his poufy head and yanking it back, poured the Saki into his mouth.

Sage gagged, swallowing part of it and choking on the rest. When Tsukina released him, he bent over double to cough his lungs out. "I think that counts as assault," he hacked out.

"Well it won't progress to rape if that's what you want," she said, hands on her hips, causing Sage to turn red and cough even harder.

Cye snickered and tugged her over, patting her head. "Good girl," he beamed. "I've taught you well."

In the meantime, Miniko had set her sights on Rowen. "You seriously ate all that food?" she asked, poking his side. "Where the hell did it all go?"

Rowen, still drunk, laughed and beat his chest. "The muscles, baby."

This drew an amused smirk, not quite the intended effect. "Yeah, you're not bad in that department," was all she said.

"Don't let him fool you, he's got a hollow leg," Ryo piped up.

"And I've got a black hole for a stomach!" said Sage, with a grin that said the alcohol had hit his blood stream.

"Oh is that so?" smirked Miniko. "You barely ate anything compared to these two."

"Because it's rude to eat like that in public," Sage explained readily. "I'll go home and empty the cupboards." He puffed his cheeks out like a hamster to prove his point.

Tsukina had a smug grin on her face at the changes the Saki had brought about in the reticent young man. Dusting her hands, she turned to leave but stopped as she remembered something. She delivered a sharp smack to the back of Cye's head, saying, "That's for disappearing."

"Itaii," whined Cye. "Careful with that, I got attacked by a dragon."

"You're so full of it," Tsukina rolled her eyes.

"Hey, hey," Cye said, grabbing her before she could walk off and fixing her with a puppy eyed stare. "I'm sorry, I've just been really… busy lately."

Tsukina tried to stay angry, she really did, but somehow he won. "Oh all right," she relented. "But don't do it again," she pointed a reprimanding finger at him. "You go off and make me think you'd died somewhere. Do you have any idea how much I…" she broke off abruptly, having realized she'd said too much. She flushed pink.

Cye was grinning, though. "You what now?" he prodded.

"Nothing," she coughed slightly. "Look, I need to get back to work."

"What work?" Cye grinned wider. "There's no one here but us."

She shifted, trying to edge away without him noticing. "I have tidying up to do."

"Adastreia and Vicky are taking care of that," he pointed out. "Here, sit, tell me what you've been up to."

Reluctantly, the girl sat down but kept plenty of space between them. "Not a lot. College is pretty life consuming."

"You still don't have a boyfriend?" Cye teased.

"No," she replied, her cheeks looking a tad pink again. Cye was quite a few years older than her and it surprised her that he'd have an interest in that.

"Very odd," he chuckled. "Seems like a pretty thing like you would have been snatched right up."

"Cye, you seriously need to learn new moves," Kento was laughing as he staggered upright. "The poor girl looks ready to run."

"Oi, you go… clean up and relocate your dignity," Cye told the paper napkin monster. As if Cye was sober enough to remember what dignity was.

"Oh… you mean this?" Kento swiped the napkins off and bared his muscles again, grinning.

"Kento, you bloody bastard!" Cye shouted, covering his head with his arms to protect himself from the rain of soiled napkins.

Tsukina might have moved to help him but she made the mistake of looking up. Once she had, all the unfortunate, red-faced woman could do was stare at the muscles. After all, Kento may not have been his cleanest but the man was still an impressive sight. The bastard knew it too, as he flexed an arm for her and winked.

Sober Kento would be hanging his head in embarrassment the next day. Sage on the other hand would be laughing his ass off. As Korin hadn't let his bearer stay drunk for more than thirty seconds, the blond had located a new way to entertain himself. Be afraid Ronin, be very afraid. He had a phone with a video recorder and he was using it.

Sage bit back snickers, holding his phone up to capture their idiotic behavior. It wasn't as if there was any shortage of it, either. Kento had his arm around Cye's neck, using his auburn hair to wipe himself off. Ryo and Rowen were dancing on their chairs to which Sage was counting the seconds until they collapsed. Then when Kento dragged Cye off to the bathroom… Well, the shouts that emanated from there were more than sufficient for later humiliation. Maybe he'd even be able to convince his sister of why she should never date any of his friends.

Ryo's chair was the first to give away under his ungainly attempts to dance. Somehow, the remarkably drunk and incredibly catastrophe prone man managed to kick his chair out from under him. The result was gruesome but for Sage, wholly satisfying as he filmed the subsequent domino effect. Ryo toppled into Rowen, who landed on the table, causing it to tip all over again and right onto the two of them. Sage felt rather bad for the girls that would have to clean it up all over again. He would be leaving them a large tip as well as Kento's address to send the damages bill. However, even the pang of guilt couldn't put a damper on his fun for long.

Rowen had turned on Ryo, accusing him of trying to kill him. Ryo in turn had retorted that no, he hadn't been but he _should_ have after all the times the others had tried to kill HIM! An indignant bitch slap led to them trying to throttle each other – though that wasn't at all how it appeared on camera. Sage simply covered his eyes, still holding his phone up to capture the madness.

It wasn't long though before the phone began to ring, causing him to stop and look up right in time to see Ryo trying to suffocate Rowen in his armpit. He cringed and averted his eyes from the Body Odor wrestlers to see who was trying to reach him. Another wince pinched his eyes shut for a moment when he saw the name. It was Mia and he could just see how pissed she was going to be.

Sighing, he stopped recording the S&M show to answer his phone. "Hello Mia."

"_Sage! Where ARE you all?"_ the woman asked. _"I've tried calling Ryo eight times but I think his phone is off."_

"Umm… he didn't tell you his phone was shut off, did he?" Sage said and held the phone away at the indignant shriek he got as an answer. "Easy, easy. He's not ignoring you. No, he's not mad at you either. Hey look, I'd let you settle this with him but he's… never mind, you don't want to know," he glanced over at Ryo as he tried to chomp off Rowen's ear as Rowen appeared to be attempting to rip off Ryo's wig. Except that the Ronin of Wildfire wasn't wearing a wig. So his scalp was going with each fist full of black hair.

Mia must have heard the shouts from behind Sage because she demanded, "_What in the HELL is going on?"_

Sage chuckled. "Sorry, Cye dragged us to the bar to 'unwind' so I'm babysitting drunk Ronin."

There was a pause on the other end before Mia said in a menacing tone, "_Rabid unicorns and a DRAGON are loose on Tokyo and you lot are at a bar __**DRINKING**__?"_

"Take it up with Cye – once he's done in the bathroom with Kento," was all the Ronin of Halo had as an answer. He didn't drive this crazy bus, he just kept people from suicide bombing off it.

All Kento was doing was giving Cye an un-asked for bath in the bathroom sink to try and clean them both off but Sage had no problem making everyone else think differently. Especially Mia, for the cringe factor. "_Ewww_," she groaned. "_Too much information_!"

Sage chortled. "My apologies. Can I ask a favor though?"

She sighed through her nose but said, _"Sure, what is it_?" It sounded like she was pinching the bridge in an attempt to calm herself.

"Can you come pick us up? I'd drive but…"

"_They made YOU drink too?"_

"No, the psycho waitress did," he blanched. "It's cycled out but still."

"_I'm coming, give me a minute and don't let Ryo burn anything down that he can't afford to replace_."

"I'll do my best," he promised. "See you soon."

Hanging up, he turned his camera back on just in time to catch Cye as he did his signature drunk chicken dance on his way out of the bathroom. Sage supposed he thought that his moves were attractive but he wasn't sure why the Torrent Ronin would want to attract wild turkeys. From all appearances, he and Kento looked like they had gone swimming in alcohol rather than the bathroom sink but that was fine. He figured that 'drowned drunk duck dance' would get plenty of views on his youtube channel.

"1,000,000 pageviews, here I come," he said with a giddy grin as he shut his phone and pocketed it. Sage now had to admit that bars did had a purpose. He was able to get all of his friends to act stupid and if the need arose he had plenty of blackmail material. The future looked bright for Sage. He might just be able to get Ryo out of his house after all.

At long last, Mia came walking in the door to collect her shit faced charges. The bouncer took one look at her and warned her that she ought to find somewhere else to relax and drink. The redhead answered that she knew perfectly well how to take care of herself and went on to shock him by expertly knocking Ryo senseless the moment she got up to him. She was ordinarily a very nice girl but sometimes, the idiocy her charges exhibited drove her to violence.

"All of you, out to my jeep NOW," her tone left no room for debate.

"Aw," Cye paused in his dance. "Do we have to?"

Mia's eye twitched. "Yes, you do. Get moving or I'll shove Kento's foot up your ass!"

"Eep!" Cye used both hands to cover his bottom protectively.

"Aw but honey, you know he'd prefer _your_ foot," Rowen slung an arm around her shoulders.

Mia grimaced. "Good grief, you smell like armpit," she said, elbowing him in the ribs to get him off her. Even if she hadn't hit an old injury and made him fall like a redwood, Rowen would have passed out anyhow. Alcohol had a dangerous effect on blood sugar levels and Rowen could have very well ended up comatose from the amount he drank.

"Come ON!" she barked to the remaining two.

Cye promptly ran out the door, still holding his butt. "Bye!" he called to the girls from over his shoulder.

Adastreia and the others had kept their distance during the Ronin rampage. If the bouncer refused to deal with it, they'd keep their distance too. They weren't stupid enough to mess with four thoroughly drunk body builders (who else had that much muscle?). Besides, they couldn't wait to see if the door man even had a job the next day. Though Miniko couldn't blame him for refusing to confront them, his muscles were a quarter of the size of Kento's.

Sage deposited a large check and Kento's address on the counter before he turned to pick up Ryo. He only picked up half of him though and dragged him to the door by his feet. _Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump_ went Ryo's head on the steps as Sage tugged him out. He could have picked him up but he was wiped out after their earlier fights and couldn't be bothered. Rowen was toted out as a sack of potatoes on Kento's shoulder and Mia followed after him. The unconscious victims were shoved into the back seat and somehow, the massive Ronin of Hard Rock squeezed in as well. Poor Cye was stuffed in the back like a sardine, packed into a foot well and praying there wouldn't be an avalanche. If there was, the Torrent Ronin was ancient history. Sage got the front again, mysteriously.

Adastreia waited until she heard the car pull away and sighed in relief. "They're finally gone."


	10. Chapter Nine

Author's note: I got this written relatively quickly, despite the fact that I'm writing this and the sequel simultaneously. Enjoy and don't forget to R&R ;) Thanks!

_"Destiny is not a matter of change, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."  
- William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925)_

**Chapter Nine**

Dais' morning had been predictably dull. He was by himself in his apartment without a soul to talk to, not that he was complaining. It wasn't such a bad thing to him, always having been a bit of a loner with a penchant for quiet. Especially since no arguments between Cale and Kayura meant he slept in undisturbed. After fighting rabid unicorns, he didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about it either, not that he could be persuaded to feel something like guilt for his late lie ins even when he didn't have a viable reason. He happened to like sleep nearly as much as Cale liked women.

By noon, the warlord gave up, deciding he was sufficiently rested that he could convince himself to roll out of his bed. He couldn't fall back asleep and he'd tried for the past twenty minutes. Besides that, the bathroom called and so did the kitchen as his stomach gave a disgruntled, hungry growl. Once again he had fallen into bed the night before completely forgetting dinner in favor of sleep, something his body didn't appreciate.

After a shower, he dressed and combed out his damp hair before wandering out to make tea. He was enjoying how silent his apartment was without the bickering duet and no radio playing, as the device was still dismantled on the counter. Sekhmet hadn't made much of a nuisance of himself aside from that but Dais had no reason to miss him either. No, he was relishing the quiet with a content, almost cat-like smile.

He drank his tea, ate something and considered what he wanted to do. He had work that night of course but he had at least five hours before he had to go in. Getting to his feet, he figured he'd explore the city a little. If Kayura got on his case about wasting a day, he'd say he was looking for any more attack unicorns or maybe dragons disguised as taxi drivers, whatever the hell else might have crawled out of any gates that opened while they'd been busy. He wasn't being lazy, he just didn't see the point in traipsing all over the country in search of something that wanted to kill him. Suicide was frowned upon, after all.

So explore he did. He rode a subway train for the first time, cursing when he accidentally missed his stop, only realizing it when he had reached the absolute end of the line. By that point he didn't bother with switching trains and just rode it back, disgruntled that he had missed that. He found his way out to the street, edging away from the people yelling at vending machines and running into a doomsday prophet, screaming that hell horses were upon them and the end was nigh. Making cuckoo gestures, he hurried down the street and dove into a mall for refuge, nearly falling on his face when the automatic door opened as he went to push on it.

"I think I hate technology," he grumbled, having barely caught himself and stalked off in a huff as onlookers laughed, rather red faced in embarrassment. It was hard to be suave when there were always booby traps waiting for him and- that thought was cut off as he realized where he was.

"Holy mother of god," he stared, having landed right in front of the Frederick's of Hollywood display. If he'd been red before, by then he was fuchsia but he wasn't looking away either. "Is it a brothel?" he glanced through the doors, unable to help himself. No matter how much he tried to think he wasn't as bad as Cale, curiosity was often his downfall. In particular, he was anxious to know if the ladies inside wore the skimpy outfits their posters displayed, such as the black lacy teddy on the right. The only thing stopping him from going inside and inquiring about 'services' (again, only for curiosity's sake!) was the looks he was receiving from the passerby. He coughed and hurried away before anyone said anything.

He poked around the mall further, eyeballed the contents of Hot Topic and Spencer's with suspicion, GAP and Hollister with disinterest and PacSun with disgust. The only place that caught his interest was the Halloween store and that was because of the Pirates of the Caribbean costumes. Somehow he resisted the temptation to buy Jack Sparrow's hat and instead walked down to the food court. Making a random selection, he purchased a snow cone. That was how Dais was introduced to brain freeze, making him worry that the so-called 'cold treat' was actually an attempt on his life.

He caught Sekhmet's, er, DJ Venom's 'Concise Weather Forecast.' It in its entirety consisted of, "There isn't a damn thing on the radar so chill out." He quickly came to the conclusion that the ex-evil warlord of venom enjoyed his job a little too much. Briefly he wondered why every radio he'd heard so far in the city was tuned to him but passed it off as Sekhmet's insanity being the new novelty. People had gotten very strange since his own time, as he'd noted after coming across an entire display dedicated to calendars of animals dressed up in cute costumes and shirts with food that had faces drawn on it. Odder yet had been finding modern Japanese's love of poop, since it was everywhere – on key chains, shirts, purses… Even candy. Which he hadn't dared to try, lest it be poop flavored too.

He cycled back through the mall to see the lingerie displays again, albeit somewhat guiltily before heading back out onto the streets. He wasn't sure he'd be sharing the location with Cale, he might just keep it as his own little secret. Dais hadn't done anything with women in quite some time, despite his perverted senses. He liked them, he liked looking at them, but after so many yeas he'd come to understand that all hookers were the same and his sexual exploits had petered out. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for anymore; he was still a man and still had desires but no one that he wanted. It was rather vexing.

He was an exceedingly quiet individual and he had little outward need for companionship. Perhaps he was going through depression, struggling with having little real purpose left in life. Certainly, the solitary warlord of illusion would not admit to being lonely. By that point in time, he was so far out of touch with basic human nature that he liked to think he didn't have those instincts anymore.

Having blown an hour or two by wandering around the city, he got lunch from a café on a street corner. From there, he walked to the gym figuring he could work out and quit thinking so much about things that didn't even really matter. He and Cale had more in common they liked to think, retreating to exercise or martial arts practice. Especially since the gym was where he ran into the man himself.

"Well hello," said a voice from the weight benches as Dais walked by to the changing rooms. Cale was bench pressing enough weights with relative ease that he had seasoned gym members eyeing him with worry from a distance.

He paused, glancing to the side in moderate confusion. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" he asked. He hadn't paid much attention to the conversation where Cale had mentioned his new job but he'd gotten the vague impression he wouldn't be around that day. Somehow he doubted that gym membership had been included in his perks.

"Yeah," the big man admitted in between lifts of the massive weights. "I already did."

Dais snorted. "You left early didn't you?"

There was a pause and a slightly guilty look crossed Cale's face. "Possibly," he said and then shrugged. "The job's boring. I'm not a thug, damn it, I resent having to act like one. No one said I'd be beating money out of innocent idiots in the contract."

"You're going soft." Cale had never been a hard man to begin with, Dais just liked to rub the salt in his wounds.

"Yeah, okay, maybe I'm having a hard time adjusting," grumbled Cale. Five more and then he sat up, wiping his brow despite there being no visible perspiration. "Can you really blame me?"

The white haired man was silent for a moment. "No," he finally murmured. "I have a hard time of it too."

"You're not as bad off," sulked the other. "Your skills are still useful. What am I going to do, polish swords in a museum?"'

Dais shut his mouth abruptly, having been on the verge of suggesting something along those lines. When he got a dirty look, he protested, "What? I would have thought that you'd like being a weapon's expert."

"It's no fun if I don't get to use them," he glowered. He was looking more and more like a cranky five year old as the conversation went on.

Shaking his head, Dais said, "Well, I don't know what else to tell you unless you take up acting and specialize in movies about Samurai."

"Eh, that'd drive me nuts," muttered the dark man. "They wouldn't know what they were doing because they weren't there."

"Then be a porn star," was Dais' sarcastic comment. What did he look like, a guidance counselor? He had no clue why his teammates went to him for advice, he hardly made for a sympathetic audience.

"Sounds interesting," Cale commented, pretending to consider it and smirking when the other shuddered. "I was joking, even if it would bring in good money."

He'd been approached by at least one person from Playgirl during his forays into the gym and though he'd declined the offer, she'd left her card with him. Just in case he'd consider changing his mind, she'd said with a wink and a smile that he'd seen a million times over. For however much he joked that everyone should see him, he wasn't quite that much of an exhibitionist. He was still quite customary in that sense, though it was doubtful that he bothered with the hassle of clothing within the privacy of his own apartment.

"Yeah, if you say so," Dais cringed before heading to change for his workout.

Cale just laughed and went back to his workout. He finished on the bench and did his pull ups, effortlessly towing himself up to the bar behind his neck. Then he went on to barbells, dumbbells, and deadlifts, as well as a few other smaller exercises worked in before he stretched and headed to the showers. He washed, toweled off and dressed to leave. Also, he left his hair down, free of the gel that usually lent him his signature hairstyle. Granted, that small blessing was only because he'd used up his previous bottle and had forgotten to buy more. And to think that everyone teased Sage for his hair gel usage when the real culprit was none other than his arch enemy.

Walking out of the gym, Cale stretched his arms over his head and mused over what to do with the rest of his day. Of course, he'd received a lecture from Kayura on the subject but he wasn't sure that killer pony hunting was what he was in the mood for. He was a samurai and a former daimyo, not a ranch hand and he didn't exactly have a lasso handy. Shrugging, he decided just to camp out near where the gate had opened last. Maybe killer ponies returned to the scene of the crime like killer humans. That logic worked for him and he trotted off to do so. It wasn't like they'd be hard to spot or anything. All he had to do was keep an eye out for Animal Control trucks… though he hoped they'd since updated their vehicles to tanks.

Downtown, Cale took up a corner in the shade of the entrance to a skyrise. The elaborate stairs hid him from plain sight and he could see the intersection and crosswalk where they'd fought before. Deciding that was as good as it got, he settled down and tugged his leather coat on before leaning back. Maybe he'd catch a nap too since it was rather warm that day.

An hour ticked by with the warlord lounging. He amused himself by observing the pedestrians that walked by, predominately the women. He didn't feign shame for doing so either, since he liked them very much and saw nothing wrong with appreciating them. What's more, with as much as he disliked modern life, he didn't seem to have as much of a problem with the females, leastways not from a distance. He'd had a few run ins with feminists, but they just left him with the general impression that people didn't get locked up for insanity anymore. As far as he was concerned, women (the ones that hadn't lost their minds) never changed so they had been the easiest thing to adjust to. All women, no matter the time period, had a weakness for bad boys, romance and his deep blue eyes. Having arms as thick as tree trunks didn't hurt anything either.

"Hm," he murmured to himself, head tilted to one side, considering. One could easily imagine that he had dog ears, one perked up with fascination as he considered what flavor he'd like to have that night. Chinese, Italian, German, African, there seemed to be no end to the variety. However when it came down to the wire, Cale was a very simple man. He liked blondes. So there he sat, inspecting the women as they walked by. Every shape, size and color seemed to live in Tokyo now, not that he complained. He enjoyed eyeballing each new set of legs as they sashayed past, rather like a peeping tom. Cale liked to think that he was more like a wine taster, trying every vintage until he found one bottle that was just right that he could keep.

Sighing, he glanced up at the sky. Two hours had passed and he was getting hungry as well as thirsty. No one had come by that had struck his fancy so he stood, tugging his sunglasses back down over his eyes and about to join the people walking towards their lunch breaks. That was when he saw her, the petite blond as she walked towards the intersection. He was immediately riveted, imaginary tail wagging a mile a minute.

A blonde girl, medium height, slender but not skinny with a nicely endowed chest and rear that she hardly seemed away of. His eyes slid down to her legs and his grin went wider at how she walked in her heels, even if the long, somewhat nunnish skirt blocked most of his view. He looked back up towards her face and saw the fine boned cheeks and the equally delicate glasses perched on the end of her nose as she walked with a book open in front of her. They looked like they were about to slide off and it just made Cale find her hotter, in a geeky kind of way.

A wolfish grin was on his face, leaning forward to give chase before he even quite knew what he was doing. Taking a breath, he debated how to advance. Just by her appearance, he guessed he'd need more than the average 'what are you doing and why isn't it me?' pick up line. No, she seemed far too conservative for that, he'd have to be more subtle. The problem was, it was getting harder to think as she got further away from him, approaching the crosswalk to vanish into the crowds.

He was about to toss caution to the windows and figure it out as he went but it turned out that Cale didn't have to bother with much thinking. She kept walking, four inch heels clicking as she went, oblivious to him and everyone else as she read. That meant she didn't notice as the crosswalk sign changed and Cale's eyes widened. She was about to step right out in front of an oncoming car. In an instant he was lunging forward. It would be a horrible waste of a woman and besides, he'd have to be an idiot to pass up such an opportunity. After all, what better way to catch a woman's eye than to sweep her out of harm's way? Even if he could technically be classified as a whole different variety of danger.

He pushed his way through the bystanders, rushing to save the woman from becoming victim to her studies. Reaching out just in time, he grabbed her arm and yanked her back from stepping out into traffic. To do so, he pulled her against his chest, which may or may not have been an accident in itself. She gave a yelp of surprise, jerked out of her own little world and back to reality to see who had grabbed her. His grip loosened but only by small degrees, as if she'd float away when released. Or worse, fall into the road.

"You know, you really should look where you're going," he chuckled into her ear. Her hair smelled sweet or was that her? He resisted shoving his nose into her neck to catch a better whiff.

"Eek!" she squeaked in a high pitched voice, jerking her head around to look at him. Cale blinked in surprise at the wide gray eyes but he grinned as she promptly flushed pink, his lips crooked up to one side in approval. Not only was she hot, she was adorable. "S-sorry," she stammered, quickly averting her eyes in embarrassment, trying to edge away so he wouldn't feel as inclined to hold her arm.

Cale wasn't letting go anytime soon, though. "What are you reading that has you so preoccupied?" he asked, following her step for step. The grin never left his face as he teased her, slipping into predator mode without even realizing that he was hunting.

She glanced down at the book in her hands and shut it, looking self-conscious. "My chemistry text book," she admitted.

He was taken aback and almost didn't believe her except for the bold type on the cover that said **Advanced Chemistry**. "Wow," he blinked, not knowing what to say for a moment. "You must be one hell of a brainiac." Then he mentally smacked himself, that had been a comment worthy of Rowen.

She didn't notice and much to his delight, she turned a deeper shade of red. He loved girls that blushed, the reaction and the fact that he could be the first to ruin them. Right then, he was struck by the impulse to scoop her up and tote her off on his shoulder. By the overwhelming way his instincts were acting up, he knew it would be a trial to keep his hands from wandering.

"I don't know about that," she mumbled self consciously, still wishing very much that he would let go. It was hard to think with him that close, he was hardly an unattractive man. The grin that curled at his lips was rather scary though.

"It's cool," he said, not really knowing anything about it. All he saw in all those symbols and figures was a migraine.

"I guess," she mumbled, avoiding looking at him. "Thank you for stopping me."

"Not a problem," he grinned a little more kindly.

A few moments of silence passed and she scuffed her foot on the concrete sidewalk. She wasn't sure why he was still there.

Cale hesitated. Polite conversation was running out and he didn't think he could stand to let this one walk away. That would be why he grinned as her stomach growled. "Hungry?" he asked.

The poor girl could have died of humiliation and if she flushed an more, she would surely faint on the spot. "A little," she admitted sheepishly. "I didn't have time to eat before class, I woke up late."

He laughed, a rough sound that sent queer chills down her spine. "Want to grab something with me? I was about to pay a visit to the breakfast place around the corner," he flashed her a charming smile, laying it on thick before the light changed and she ran off on him.

The young woman hesitated, not sure that going off with a strange man was such a brilliant idea. He was handsome in a roguish way, but that didn't make him an upstanding citizen. Cale saw her uncertainty and added, "Hey, I saved your butt from being road kill. The least you can do is keep me company for pancakes." He smiled as sincerely as he ever could, though the flirtatious undertones were still there.

She still looked reluctant but pancakes worked like a magic word. "All right," she relented. "You don't have to pay for me though." His beat up clothes didn't lend an air of wealth and she would have felt bad for taking from him.

"Nonsense," he took her elbow and led her down the sidewalk before she had time to formulate an escape. Cale was already thinking of ways to 'sink his claws' into his new prey. "I'm a very traditional man."

"Right," she mumbled, glancing around with worry. She sincerely hoped that no one saw her with him, she wasn't sure she'd ever live it down. Her brother would have a fit, too.

"So then," Cale said, helping her into a chair. "What's your name? Or shall I just call you Calamity Jane?"

She flushed, rubbing her nose and pushing her glasses back up. "My name is Date Satsuke," she said with as much dignity as she could muster. "And you? Or would you prefer _Deus ex Machina?_"

Cale didn't speak Latin or whatever she was speaking and so he wouldn't have gotten it even if he had been listening. '_Date? This hot piece of ass is Sage's little sister?'_ he thought in disbelief, looking her up and down with a whole new level of interest. Yes, Cale had struck gold. He barely knew her and he'd already decided she was his. _'Wow… how the children have grown up.'_

Outwardly, he grinned and said, "Kujuurou Sasake but you can call me Cale," he winked.

Satsuke was certain that her face would never returned to its natural color after this. "Nice to meet you, Cale," she said, trying not to fidget under the intensity of his stare.

"And you," he said. "I hope I'm not making you miss class." He had to keep reminding himself to stay calm and be good. He was slightly unnerved, he'd never had such a difficult time behaving himself. It was like his instincts were taking over because he was finding it harder and harder abide the space between them. Honestly, he'd never once been so close to losing control.

"No," she gave him a smile. "I was on my way home from class. You're fine."

"Good," Cale noted that she had a sweet smile too. He seemed to have found himself a truly 'good girl.' "I'll walk you home after this then."

"What?" Satsuke asked, caught off guard. "No, that's quite all right. I'll be fine, you needn't bother."

"Perhaps but it would be rude of me not to," he smiled at her flustered face. "I told you, I'm a very traditional man. I wouldn't want a lady walking home alone through the city, especially one as beautiful as you."

Even if Satsuke thought he was full of crap, her inner female was doing whoops and cheers, when she wasn't swooning from his smile. She was too hot and bothered to formulate any protests however and she had to look away as she thought she would pass out from humiliation. Cale stifled a smug smile, knowing he'd won that argument before it had even started.

Satsuke was saved from having to speak to him for a few minutes when the waitress came to take their orders. After asking for pancakes and coffee, she took sneaky glances at her breakfast companion. She was too shy to eye him directly, even though she doubted he would have cared.

He was dark skinned, his spiky hair hanging down around his rugged face. His prominent jaw was covered in dark stubble, his equally deep blue eyes were strangely soft compared to the distinct air of power he radiated. Despite how obviously bad ass he was in so many ways, she was drawn to the deep simples in his cheeks when he smiled. It boggled her mind that he could be so dark and yet so adorable. She was dying to know about the scar on his eye but she was too shy to ask. Needless to say, she didn't think that _she_ was the beautiful one there.

"Wow, I always forget how warm these places are," Cale remarked, shrugging his leather jacket off. Naturally he had seen her returning the inspection and was quite pleased with the attention. This was working out perfectly. Unable to help himself, he tugged off his constricting jacket, knowing full well the effect that his thick, muscled arms had on women.

Her eyes bugged out and he heard her breath suck in, informing Cale that Satsuke was yet another victim to the guns. He gave her an innocent smile as if he hadn't done that on purpose just to get a reaction and to wow her. "Yeah," she almost whispered, struggling to tear her eyes off him.

"So," he grinned, thrilled to pieces with how this was going. "What are you going to college to be, hm? Seems like a wealthy Date woman wouldn't need to worry about that."

It took her a moment to realize he'd spoken and she blushed worse, realizing she'd been staring. "Erm, I've been considering something to do with biotechnology," she said. "Either that or pharmaceuticals."

"Damn," he blinked, honestly impressed. "How are you avoiding your family marrying you off so you can do this?"

She fidgeted again, looking at her hands, giving off the appearance of disliking the subject. "I told mom that I wanted to find someone myself," she said. "So far it hasn't been a problem because I have two older siblings."

He chuckled. "With the way you were running down the sidewalk with your nose in a book I don't suppose you've done a lot of looking." She'd been looking at _him_ plenty though, once he'd pulled her out of academics-land. He didn't plan on letting her return any time soon, either.

"Oh please," she waved him off indignantly. "I've done my share of dating. The majority of men don't interest me." She was relaxing slowly, able to meet his eyes without threatening to faint, even if it only lasted for a few moments each time. She was still pink faced and he could tell from how her pupils dilated that he wasn't one of the 'uninteresting' men. "Anyway," she came to the realization that he had her talking about herself and had yet to say anything about him. That would not do at all. "What about you?"

"What about me?" he echoed, smirking ever so faintly as he leaned back, tossing an arm over the back of his chair. Her eyes followed the movement and the smirk became more pronounced. Oh yes, another sucker for the guns. He was getting more enjoyment out of this game than should rightfully have been allowed.

"Well," she began, trying her hardest to keep her thoughts pure. Thinking about the man sprawled opposite her was only conducive to stuttering like a mental reject. "Tell me the basics. Your age, what you do for a living, if you're employed at all… that kind of thing." She fought back the impulse to ask if he was single. He wasn't wearing a ring but wedding bands were only a relatively new concept in Japan and not everyone used them.

He seemed amused by her polite conversation. "I'm older than I look and younger than I feel," was his snarky reply. "Twenty-five, dear." He didn't like lying about his age. There were a lot of things he did that conflicted with the Bushido code that he didn't mind but lying had always irked him. It didn't help any that he couldn't understand the modern woman's need for age. Whatever happened to it being all right as long as the girl was developed and the man wasn't old and wrinkly? "And I am employed, I work as a body guard. I don't like it though, it doesn't suit me."

"What makes you say that?" she asked, struggling not to let her mind dwell on how she'd like to climb all over him. It seemed like a perfect job for someone built like him.

"When I said I'm traditional, I meant it," he repeated and shrugged, reaching up to itch the back of his head. "I was raised by the Bushido Code and I'm a master Kendoist. Being a thug for hire is an insult to both my abilities and my morals." He paused and added, "Especially when the people I'm working for are nothing more than thugs in their own right, just too lazy to do their own dirty work."

She nodded, looking sympathetic as she leaned forward. "Well," she was trying not to smile, she really was but the smirk wormed its way out onto her face despite her best efforts. "My family owns a dojo…" she began, almost as if she were contemplating something. It was a moment before she continued, letting him wait with a curious raise of his brows. "Maybe if you make a good impression…" she trailed off meaningfully. She didn't feel anything else needed to be said.

Cale was grinning, proving her right. "You think you'd be able to get a job?" He could hardly believe his good luck.

"My brother is the only active sensei we currently have," she answered, not quite ready to commit to either a yes or a no. "My grandfather might be agreeable to hiring someone adequately skilled to take up sensei duties so that my nii-chan has more time to see to family responsibilities." That was mostly due to his upcoming marriage but Satsuke made no comment on that as it was still under wraps.

Cale's grin stretched wider, his teeth glinting in the light that came in through the dusty window. He looked almost like the Cheshire cat, sharp teeth and all. Fortunately, she was too preoccupied with his gorgeous eyes to notice them. "By all means, tell me how to make a good impression," he said. '_This woman is an angel,_' he decided. '_Maybe kami loves me after all._'

She chuckled, tilting her head at him. "Meet me for coffee tomorrow and we'll talk more?" she offered. Inside she was doing cheers that she'd found a way to talk to him again. Her brother's friends were hot but they couldn't hold a candle to this man.

"I'd love to," he nodded quickly. '_Hell, that was easy.'_

"Great!" her excitement leaked out before she could hide it, causing his grin to turn into a smirk and she blushed red all over again.

"Name the time and place, I'll be there," he said, choosing not to comment. He hardly even had to do anything for this girl to turn red and the reactions were proving to be highly entertaining for him. Satsuke had just found herself a stalker, even though Cale preferred the term 'fan boy.'

They arranged when they'd meet again before their meal arrived. During their late brunch, they talked about leisure topics and in general got to know each other. Of everything she said, Cale was the most pleased to know that Satsuke was a capable martial artist. That was unsurprising when her brother was a dojo master but Cale had always liked a woman that knew how to throw a solid punch. Then again, he'd always been accused of liking abuse in a bad way on more than on occasion.

The more they talked, the more he liked her, even though half the time he spent snickering at how hyper the coffee had made her. She admitted she rarely drank the stuff, liking green tea much more and her profuse apologies for acting like an idiot only amused him more. What did she think he _wouldn't_ like about a chesty woman bouncing around in her seat directly across from him? Well, aside from the fact that he had to keep his hands to himself.

Unfortunately, their meal came to an end. He paid for them and Satsuke thanked him, graciously accepting the offer rather than continuing to fight him over it. He then took her arm to walk her home, which he had mixed feelings about. He didn't want to leave her, not when he was enjoying himself so much but then again he would be able to find out where she lived without using methods that would likely lead to her calling the police. He'd endured a number of strict warnings from Kayura that she wasn't coming to bail him out of jail if he got arrested for being creepy and that he'd have to be content with men for bitches. He'd been thoroughly affronted by this accusation but nonetheless was taking care not to come across as… ok so he had obsession problems. He knew this. He just wasn't ready to commit to therapy yet.

He enjoyed the last ten minutes of their conversation as they left the restaurant and walked the block to her apartment. He was surprised that she lived there rather than at the Date home, especially since the place didn't look so snazzy. It made him worry about her safety but he refrained from commenting on that because of the aforementioned 'creepy' thing he had. After all, if Sage had okay'd the place, it couldn't be so bad. Then again the blond had probably just gone around to the neighborhood thugs and given them the scare of their life, instantly converting them into Satsuke body guards. The fact that one or two hanging around gave him long looks cemented the idea, though one flex of his arm and they scurried off. No one wanted to rile up the tank she had at her side, no matter _how_ scary the Date heir was.

"How come you stay here?" he asked her as they mounted the stairs, him shooting one last glance back at the shady fellows gathered at the corner below. He hoped they weren't drug dealers. "Seems like you'd be more… comfortable at home."

"It's easier to study when I have quiet roommates," she chirped cheerfully.

"Room mates?" he asked, now more than slightly worried about her safety. '_Please tell me none of those two bit punks __live__ with her!'_

"Yes," she smiled as she unlocked her door. "I'm home!" she called into the door, then stood back as a chorus of irate meows issued from inside and four cats barreled out the door.

'_Well,_' Cale glowered at them. '_She __was__ perfect. Cats… why is it always cats?'_

Satsuke scooped up one of the felines, a huge tabby tom and hugged him. "Look," she turned the scar-faced animal to show off Cale. "This is my new friend," she addressed the animal as if it could understand her.

Cale couldn't help but wonder how someone so young and attractive could already have degraded into a crazy cat lady. He was tempted to ask if her purse had bricks hidden in it too. With palpable reluctance, he acknowledged the cat she was sticking in his face. "Hello," he said with a nod to it, glowering as it stared back malevolently. The only reply he got was a growl from the depths of its throat. He glared, fully understanding that was feline for 'scram, she's mine.'

He had no intention of doing any such thing, however. She might have sunk to the level of the evil arch nemesis of the jackal armor bearer but he would not give up. He believed that she could be saved, more like she didn't have a choice in the matter. It wasn't as if he were trying to convert her to men in general, he was aiming for himself in specific. The cats had her for now but he smirked, knowing he could make her forget their existence with one kiss. Too bad that 'creepy' thing was keeping him from making that point with the cats or he would have taken care of it then.

More meowing caught his attention and he glanced to the side in time to see the vast number of cats now gathered around the woman. His eyes widened visibly as he saw her kneel down into what practically was a sea of them! Did she line her pockets with cat nip? Maybe he'd been mistaken in calling her an angel, she was beginning to seem more like an emissary for the devil.

"What in the name of hell do you do with so many cats?" he asked, not sure if he should be backing away slowly or just stand in awe of her sheer insanity. This girl… he liked her, but maybe he'd be better off handing her over to Sekhmet. They were both nuts, they'd hit it off right? Ha, like Cale was capable of giving up that easily.

"Oh, they're not all mine," she said easily, scratching behind one's ears. "Most of are strays that come by because I feed them. Only Rip is mine," she pointed to a small gray kitten, yawning as it wobbled out the door towards the humans.

"Rip?" he arched an eyebrow at the harmless ball of fluff. The name didn't bode well but he could hardly see how something so small and poufy could be dangerous.

"Rip Van Winkle," she elaborated patiently, chortling as the kitten mewled pathetically, leaning over to pick it up and cuddle it against her bosom. "He sleeps near constantly." A very loud purr emanated from the tiny creature.

"Oh." Well that didn't seem so bad, even if Cale had no clue what a 'Rip Van Winkle' was. She said it like it ought to be common knowledge. Maybe it was a kind of animal… he'd have to ask Sekhmet when he saw the man again. Glancing around at the swarm, he couldn't help but comment, "They seem to like you an awful lot." He was gauging this by the multitude of evil looks he was receiving for being near their woman. "You amassing armies for anything in particular?" He was only half teasing with that comment.

She laughed, immediately captivating his attention again at the noise she made. If he'd had a tail, it would have been wagging enthusiastically. He'd made her laugh and he loved it. "An army, hm. Not such a bad idea actually," she mused, an evil smile on her face. "They side with whoever opens the food cans," she said, straightening up from giving affection to her furry minions.

He nodded, the smile she brought to his face stubbornly refusing to budge, though it alternated back and forth between various shades of kind, gentle, infatuated, mocking and evil. "Yeah, it works that way with most things," he said, currently his face showing a mix of evil and amused. No one had clued the innocent girl in that it worked the same way with men. Given one a scrap of affection and he'd be whimpering at the door for the rest of the week, if not longer. While he might not stoop to actual whimpering, Satsuke would still likely end up finding presents at her door, left as peace offerings from the amorous warlord. Even if it meant braving her cat army.

She smiled right back, not seeming to notice the evil gleam in his eyes that meant he was planning. "You're right, it does." She was stalling and she knew it, reluctant to say good bye to him. She worried that the thought of employment wouldn't be enough to keep him interested, even as a sensei, which seemed like a job he'd look forward to very much. She'd behaved like such a ditz at the table, bouncing back and forth from topic to topic, he must find her very tiring. Chewing on her lip, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, trying to tell if he was looking for an escape yet.

She needn't have worried. She'd given the puppy scratches under his chin and now she had him for life, whether she wanted him or not. He was dragging his feet as well, unwilling to part with the girl. It was almost as if he feared she would turn out to be a big hallucination when he turned his back to her. "I suppose I'll see you later," he said. "You won't run off and leave me hanging?"

"I wouldn't dream of it," she smiled. "If I don't show up, feel free to come knock on my door. I won't put my attack cats on you," she teased. She was hardly so oblivious that she didn't notice the posturing going on around her, even if it didn't quite sink in what they were posturing _about_.

He laughed outright and grinned, his sharp teeth showing again. The dimples caught her eyes that time though, saving him once more. "I'll do that," he winked, giving her a bow. She returned the polite gesture, turning bright red at the flirtatious wink. _That_, she'd actually picked up on though she still second guessed it.

She was practically twitching as he finally rounded the corner and was out of sight before she dove into her apartment, Rip in her arms as she slammed the door on a dozen other annoyed cats that hadn't made it inside in time. In half a minute she was standing at the phone, dialing Rinfi as fast as she could. "Hey," she said, hardly able to contain the girlish squeals. "I just met the most gorgeous man on _earth!"_

Rinfi Rei Faun blinked, cradling her cell phone between her ear and her shoulder as she folded laundry. "What? Repeat that but more slowly," she said. She redirected Chun Fi's hands as she mistakenly folded a pair of Kento's boxers like origami, turning the ill-fated article of clothing into a mangled mess. Rinfi wasn't sure she even wanted to know why they had Kento's clothing at their house when he'd moved out.

"There was this guy that I met on my way home from class," Satsuke was so excited that she could barely figure out what to say first, the combined effect of Cale exposure, sugar, starch and then coffee. "I, er, wasn't looking where I was going…"

"Suki," Rinfi sighed in despair. Satsuke was her best friend but in some ways the girl could drive her berserk. "Did you trip on the poor guy?"

"No!" Satsuke said, blushing again. "I almost walked out into traffic," she said sheepishly.

"_Satsuke!"_ Rinfi barked, causing her little sister to look up with wide eyes.

"It wasn't intentional--"

"You were walking with the book in your face again, weren't you?" she asked, rapping her fingernails on the table with impatience. "How many times have I told you not to do that? No, wait, how many times has your mother, _my_ mother, Sage, Kento, Cye AND Ryo told you not to do that?"

She sulked on the other end. "I know, I forgot, okay?" She wasn't so eager to dwell on that, wanting to get back to the subject of hot guys, particularly the one she'd just spent the afternoon mentally drooling over.

"No, not okay," Rinfi groaned. "So this guy saved you from being goo on someone's grill, am I right?"

She was silent for a moment and then reluctantly said, "Yes." As no further reprimands came, she continued. "You should have _seen_ this guy. He's built like… like Kento, he's ALL muscle and wow, he's just gorgeous. He has these dark blue eyes that one moment they're stormy and broody and the next bright with laughter," she bit her lip at the thought. "And dimples, my god he has such an adorable face. His hair… could use a good trimming and the sideburns have to go but I can live with the stubble."

"You… are so infatuated," sighed Rinfi, chuckling at the squawk on the other end. "What? You're gushing like a teenager. I haven't heard you go on like this since you first saw my _brother_."

Satsuke flushed red in embarrassment. "Shush," she sulked more. Yes, she had gone through a very long phase with Kento but that had ended almost the instant he'd actually realized she'd existed. That was when it had finally dawned on her that Kento was sweet but he just… wasn't right. So she'd moved onto Ryo, much to Sage's chagrin. Her adoration of the Ronin of Wildfire had just met a swift and grisly death at Cale's hands. "None of the guys can even begin to compare to him."

"I'm sure he was quite dark and mysterious," Rinfi said, chuckling. Mostly she found it amusing that Satsuke had found someone to subject to her affections. That had taken a while, especially since she'd wanted to be a wife and mother since they were about ten. "I'm happy for you but don't be so gung ho that you scare him off."

"I won't," she rubbed a toe into the carpet.

Rinfi raised an eyebrow at the slightly rueful response. "Please tell me you haven't been this hyper the entire time you were around him." She'd probably given the poor guy a headache!

"No!" she squeaked. "At least… well… not really."

The Chinese girl sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I feel bad for this guy." She chuckled as her friend whined on the other end. "I'm joking! Are you going to meet him again?"

"Mmhm," she giggled, bouncing in place. Rip had long since abandoned her to go to the food dish, munching happily while his owner had her own private party. "He's a master kendoist! What's more, he's looking for a better job than the one he has now, so he might come work at our dojo."

Smirking, Rinfi said, "You were quite efficient at luring him in and hooking him. Going to con him into popping the question too?"

"I would do no such thing," she protested.

"Sure," laughed the other girl. "Whatever you say, Suki."

* * *

Cale walked towards the bar Dais worked at. The man would be clocked in by this hour in the evening, which gave him someplace to go so that he wouldn't simply gravitate back to Satsuke's door. Every step of the walk was hard, pausing and hesitating, wanting to return. A couple of times he caught himself in the act of doing so and had to right himself again. Being 'not creepy' and 'not a stalker' was a lot harder than he'd thought.

It wasn't even just how she looked and Cale wasn't denying there was a physical attraction. She was sweet and even rather naïve, causing him all kinds of self restraint pain when she smiled or blushed. She was intelligent, albeit to the point of being nerdy, though he could overlook that for her cuteness. She was nice to talk to, understanding of him and his thoughts. She allowed him to talk while actually listening, not just staring with glazed eyes as she at his body. He appreciated that and found himself thinking of things he wanted to talk to her about. The problem was that he wasn't sure how long he could go without doing something 'creepy' or saying something about himself that she'd find 'creepy' (even if it _was_ true).

At long last, he hauled himself into the bar and plunked his ass down on a stool, waiting for Dais to notice him. He did but by the time he approached to ask what Cale wanted to drink, the man had his head on the bar top. The other quirked a brow in confusion at the look of utter hopelessness. The warlord of illusion was almost afraid to ask what had happened so he settled on poking Cale's arm with his index finger to see if he was still alive. Cale twitched, which told Dais he was either still alive or still in his death throws.

"You want a drink?" he asked. As if he really had to, Cale never went without a drink. Dais doubted he'd been sober for a full day since he'd learned of the existence of alcohol. If he was dead, the answer would just be silence instead of no.

Grunting, the blue haired man looked up through the curtain of his unruly bangs. "I met the most beautiful, amazing woman in the world," he informed. "Blonde, buxom, sweet… virgin," he groaned. That had been very obvious during their afternoon together. "And she thinks she could get me a job as a kendo sensei."

Dais blinked his one blue eye, wonderingly. "Really?" he asked. "Then why do you look like someone ripped your nuts off?"

Cale dropped his head down, making a dull thunk on the counter top. "She's Sage's little sister," he mumbled into the fake marble, his entire body drooping like a kicked puppy.

"Oh. OH!" the other man's eyes widened and he gave a low whistle. "Man, I don't envy you in the slightest. Sage will finish what he started all those years ago if he realizes you're hot on his sister."

"I know," whimpered the so-called badass, not picking his head up. "To top if off, Sage is a blasted dojo master. No _wonder_ the shit was such a pain in the ass to fight!"

The white haired man snorted back laughter at that comment. "Yeah, that does make sense." He hesitated but patted Cale's head with a sardonic smirk. "It's been nice knowing you." Not.

Cale growled slightly and said, "Like hell that blond frou frou will kill me. Not when I _finally_ found-" he broke off. Since when had he started thinking of her as 'the one'? He rubbed his temples, honestly bewildered. He didn't say anything else for a few moments, wondering why it felt like every fiber of his body and soul was drawn to her as if she were magnetically charged. She was hot, yeah, but he'd seen better and still been able to control himself.

"Finally found…?" Dais prodded as the other had gone quiet.

"I don't know," he muttered, suddenly sour. Even supposing he thought she would be the perfect one to keep, he knew nothing about steady relationships. Would he even be able to learn how to do that at his age? He didn't even stop to think that she might not want him, it had been written all over her cherry-pink face. "Whatever, what Sage doesn't know can't hurt him."

Dais just shook his head, chortling. He set a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey down in front of him and said, "Drink. You might feel more like yourself."

"Doubtful," he mumbled, knocking back a hefty shot anyhow. "Knock me unconscious if I try to go back there and see her again tonight. My boys are threatening mutiny over my brains."

"You mean you have those?" Dais feigned shock. Either one, really. It had always been a wonder to the others that Cale didn't have legions of love children and their descendents, given his abilities to juggle more women at once than seemed possible.

The other picked up on that. "Ha ha," was his fake, sardonic laugh. "I most certainly do have them and they happen to be much bigger than yours." It appeared that he had missed the brains part, unsurprisingly. He downed another three shots but it would be at least another six before he felt any effect from it.

"Before you two are dropping trousers to compare," Kayura's voice broke across their conversation. "I need a word." The young woman leaned over and removed the alcohol from Cale's grasp, pushing it down the bar top and out of his reach.

"And I need the booze," he glowered, reaching in vain for his bottle. When she blocked him, he whined and said, "Aw, come on Kay!"

She shot him a dirty look for calling her that. "You need to stay sober. Listen, things are fluctuating really bad in the next ward over. I think another gate is about to open."

Dais sighed. "I just got this job, I can't lose it already by skipping out." He had rent to pay, damn it. Attack unicorns didn't exactly shit yen!

"Besides, what can we do?" Cale grumbled, not having given up on the liquor and was then trying to reach around the girl. "We don't have functional armor." He got his hand smacked before he could snatch the Whiskey.

"Have you two completely forgotten how to fight without the confounded armors?" she asked, one eye twitching and she bashed Cale's fingers into the edge of the counter upon a second attempt from him.

Cale yelped and yanked his hand back to nurse the offended digits, glowering evilly. After his day, he thought he had _more_ than earned the drink. Why, he hadn't snuck so much as one touch of Satsuke's ass! He'd been a very good puppy and they were denying him treats. Cruelty!

Dais sighed. "Can't you find the Ronin?" he asked her plaintively.

"Not soon enough," she frowned. "And I've been looking." Unfortunately for them, neither Kayura nor Sekhmet had heard of the invention called a phone book yet. "Fine, Dais. You stay here, Cale and I will handle it."

"What?" the warlord asked indignantly. It was too late for protest though and he was already being pulled out with Kayura. He shot Dais an ugly look that meant he expected a wealthy repayment in milk bones for this. Actually, milk bones wouldn't be sufficient. Dais might just find himself acting as Cale's guidance as he seduced Satsuke, a position the older warlord would not accept so happily.

Shaking his head at the display, Dais turned around in time to come face to face with a confused Victoria. "Have you seen Addy?" she asked.


	11. Chapter Ten

My longest chapter yet ;) Enjoy, don't forget to R&R /AN

_"Wit is educated insolence."  
- Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)_

**Chapter Ten**

Cale sulked as he stood on a roof top in the freezing cold in the dead of night. No alcohol, not even a buzz from the three shots he'd managed. Just him on a roof top in the freezing cold, not allowed to summon his armor yet and therefore had no way to stay warm with only thin clothing on. With Kayura as his sole companion. He'd been wrong, Kami most certainly did NOT love him.

The warlord let out a long suffering sigh, glancing back at her. "Why can't I get the whiskey?" he asked. This was probably the fourth time he'd asked that exact same question, give or take a few words, a bit of begging and some whining. Needless to say, Cale wasn't the only one suffering during their vigil.

"Because you fight better if you're sober enough to actually see where you're sticking your sword," Kayura said. She felt like a broken record, saying essentially the same thing over and over again. While the Nether Realm had been mind numbingly dull, this visit to the Mortal Realm was fast proving to be maddeningly redundant.

"It would take the entire bottle for me to get drunk," he protested sulkily. He cursed the immunity he'd built up over the centuries, wishing he could go back to only needing one shot to be drunk off his ass. If things continued to progress at the rate they currently were, he had no doubt that soon he'd have to start asking Sekhmet for IVs.

"Yes and you'd sneak in the entire bottle within two minutes and commence to whining for more," she said, completely matter of fact. She knew Cale and with his personality, if you gave him an inch of leeway then he would take a mile.

Cale went suspiciously silent after that, a sure sign of guilt in Kayura's mind. The winter seasonal was not to be deterred though and he bounded back with, "Can I get you something? Coke? Candy? Rowen? Whiskey?" he named her three favorite things along with his favorite tacked on at the end, another vain attempt to be sneaky.

Kayura reached over with her Shinjuku and hit him around the head. The horrible clanging noise it made was even worse than the actual impact, the high pitched reverberations causing Cale to grip his head and give a howl of pain. It was a distinctly _canine_ howl too, making her blink in bewilderment. She'd heard yelps, growls, whines, whimpers and even grunts out of him and while most of those sounds were a bit out of place for a full grown man, they were still perfectly within his ability to produce. Was it even _possible_ for a human to howl like that?

Cale either hadn't noticed, didn't care or was too dumb to get it (and Kayura's personal bet was on all three). He groaned as he rubbed his pained ears. "Damn it Kay, now I have a migraine. Honestly, you won't let me drink but you'll gladly hit me until I see triple- what's the look for?" he asked, just then noticing that she was staring at him with wide eyes. He wasn't sure he liked that look either, even if it was quiet and she didn't appear on the verge of dashing him about the head again with her stupid staff. "Kay?" he asked. No answer. "Kayura?" Was she broken?

She swallowed and said, "You howled."

"Of course I did, that fucking hurt," he glowered at her, the literal meaning of what she'd said having sailed right over his head. "Want me to bash you around and see how well you like it?" he wasn't usually violent or even easily riled, but something was off in the air and it was agitating him very badly. What was more was that he and Kayura had gotten along the worst out of everyone and he was quite done with her childish antics. She was capable of acting like an adult, why didn't she hold herself to the same standards she held everyone else?

"No, you stupid shit, I don't mean you _yelled_, I mean you HOWLED! Like a… a… wolf!"

Cale blinked. "Come again?" Maybe he'd been mistaken and he'd have to make excuses for her since it seemed she'd forgotten her happy-and-at-least-slightly-vaguely-sort-of-sane pills.

"You. Howled. Like. A. wolf," she repeated slowly and clearly so that even a mental retard could figure it out. The mental retard in this case being Cale.

He just stared at her for a moment or two before saying in blunt consternation, "Kayura, what in the fucking hell are you talking about?"

Kayura opened her mouth to shout back that he'd done just what she'd said. It wasn't that complex and even a dumb ox like himself ought to be able to understand what she was saying but she was cut off by a real wolf's howl in the near city. Her mouth snapped shut and she licked her lips nervously. "Just like that," she said faintly.

Cale was hardly even paying attention to her, he was already looking out across the city. The wind was beginning to pick up, more so than it had before and that was a tell tale sign of what was to come. "Over there," he pointed to where the clouds were thickening into a dark mass of ominous black against the starry sky. He was already summoning his armor and moving to bound towards the prospective gate opening but paused and glanced back at her when she didn't move. "Kayura, hurry up, another gate is about to open."

She hesitated before calling out her armor to follow him. "Lead the way," she said. Suddenly, Sekhmet's comments about not being the only hanyou in the group actually meant something. Then she couldn't help wondering what the hell that made Cale and what it meant for their group.

Cale went on ahead, oblivious to whatever his teammate was so worked up over. As far as he was concerned, it had been a simple trick of the mind when she'd heard an actual wolf's howl and mistaken it for his. That was what had him confused. What was a wolf doing in Tokyo? Not only was that out of place to begin with but Cale's armor had a link with the wild canines and he couldn't sense one within the entire city's limits! He had exceedingly keen ears though and not even her evil staff's jangling and crashing had been enough to convince him that the one he'd heard had been that far off. Was his armor failing him before the gate even opened or was something else going on? Cale scowled. His head hurt too much for this shit. Stupid Kayura and her stupid staff and not letting him get drunk _before_ the shit hit the fan. Cale was going to be holding a grudge for a while.

They landed on the sidewalk in the middle of a crowded section of town. Unfortunately, Japanese cities didn't seem to have room for tiny, dark and secluded alleys where mysterious vigilantes could land from fifty stories in the air and evade all notice, which left them little choice but to drop down in the midst of a gawking crowd. Cale landed easily, his heavy armor fully equipped to handle the cold but Kayura wasn't so well off. The chill had seeped to her bones on their sky high perch and numbly, she stumbled and nearly fell when they touched down.

Cale sighed and grabbed her arms, preventing the young woman from ruining her pretty face on the unforgiving surface. He actually felt a little bad for her, thinking that maybe she'd come down with a cold. If he hadn't been wearing armor, he would have checked her forehead for a fever. It would explain the delusions about him howling, anyhow.

"Jeeze," she groaned, shifting about to try and coax circulation back into her legs. "I know you can make it cold as hell but can't you also make it… not cold?" she was trying very hard not to whine but she was freezing and most normal people react with crankiness when they can't feel their toes or fingers anymore.

"Logically, one might think so," Cale said. He seemed ignorant to the stares he was getting, trying to wait patiently for something to show up that he could beat the living crap out of. "But if it does have that power, it hasn't bothered to share." Of course he wouldn't expect it to. The somewhat sentient but not completely mindful armors had a single track agenda and the winter bearer knew his happened to _like_ it when it was 30 degrees below freezing and had no intention of teaching the winter seasonal how to change that.

"Damn," she sighed. "I wish this armor came with long underwear." And fuzzy boots. Kayura had seen a pair of those in a store window a few days ago and become completely enamored with them. She wondered if she could pull them on over her armor and maybe one of those goose down coats too. This winter stuff _sucked_.

Cale opened and then quickly snapped his mouth shut, biting his tongue to keep his comments to himself. Again, this self control thing was ridiculously difficult. To avoid asking what kind of underwear her armor _did_ come with (he had his money on a thong but that would have implied some things about Anubis that he did NOT want to think about) he turned to look at the area around them. He may as well sight see in the modern world since they were stuck out in the middle of the night.

They had left the district of Shinjuku and were in the South West section of Shibuya, in Ebisu. The neighborhood was small and sleepy compared to the jam packed metropolis of Shinjuku, where the first two archways had appeared. However, that did not mean it was a village, especially since the area was primarily suburban, jutted up against nightclubs and stores of all variety. That meant a higher risk of casualties, which didn't set well with him.

Even at the late hour of the night, the city was wide awake and bustling with activity. People were getting off from work and either heading to their homes to get some much needed sleep or out to entertain themselves for the remainder of the night. Ebisu offered a wild and highly varied list of bars, clubs and other attractions which Cale decided he might come back and investigate at a later date. If there was anything left after they had finished fighting, anyway.

Cale had rather enjoyed the non-verbal destruction contests he and the others had once carried on with the Ronin, smashing apart buildings and caving in subways to see who could decimate the most property. But then he'd arrived in full spirits, thinking he'd get to start up a new round just to receive another lecture from Kayura. Apparently, being good guys meant they had to avoid knocking every building down that happened to be within range. He didn't see why they were so important, they could be rebuilt. The area seemed to be much richer than when he'd last seen it. Kayura had just hit him and shouted that they were there to protect the city, not level it. The Ronin had done their fair share of demolishing landmarks, why couldn't he? Not even for a second could the competitive man stand the thought of being outdone by those kids. He sulked again, wishing she'd reconsider.

"I hope that gate opens real soon," mumbled Kayura.

"Huh?" Cale glanced over at her. "Why do you say that?"

"Because it's the last time I'm following your lead and calling the armor _before_ the danger arrives," she mumbled in frustration, nodding to the passerby that were staring and pointing to their armored 'vigilantes' that had deigned to make a reappearance. It would seem that the armor bearers had been elevated to hero status after the news coverage of the matter, though Kayura wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Cale grinned as he looked around and saw how many excited people were pointing and grinning. "Awesome!" he tried using one of the modern words he'd heard from the 'young and hip' crown. "Look Kay, we're loved!"

Kayura groaned and hit him, armor clanking against armor. "No, NOT awesome. Look!" she grabbed his arm and pointed to the police officers that were pushing towards them. "Swords are BANNED in modern Japan and what exactly do you have in your hand?" she snapped at Cale. This was why it was never a good idea to let the bearer of the Dumb Mutt armor take the lead and she was ruing it more and more with each passing moment. If she hadn't been so caught off guard by his strange noises, she would never have let him transform before the gate appeared but it was just her luck that whenever something _could_ go wrong, it did.

Cale looked down at his much loved weapon. "A nodachi." Not just a nodachi though, it was a very precious friend to him. He patted his sword consolingly, "No one's taking you away."

"It's a _sword_ it doesn't talk and it doesn't have feelings," she glowered at the idiot she was stuck working with.

"Don't listen to her, she doesn't mean it!" Cale was quick to console the weapon. Did he really think his sword had feelings? Not a chance in hell, but it was worth pretending it did when it pissed Kayura off so badly.

"You dipshit, would you pay attention?" she seethed. "They're coming to arrest us for having weapons!"

"_What?!_" cried the man in outrage. "Why would they do that? We're fighting _for_ their sorry donut eating butts! I didn't see any of them out risking their necks to fight homicidal Talpa ponies!"

Her eye twitched again. If Cale didn't lay off, it would become permanent. "We don't have time to debate this. Come on, I'm not going to get locked up because you didn't realize what you were starting." She didn't leave time for an argument, simply began pushing and shoving him in the opposite direction of the encroaching officers.

"Halt!" cried the men, realizing their targets had seen the circle of uniforms and were making an attempt to evade arrest. "Stop right now!"

"Uh," Cale pointed in front of them. "They're all around us, Kay." There was a pause as the girl cursed under her breath before dragging him towards a building, since the only way out was up. "Can't I just show them why I should be allowed to keep my nodachi?" he asked, sighing in disgust that they were running away from these people. It wasn't doing much for his manly ego.

"No," she snapped. "They're only doing their job, you can't kill them. Remember, we're the good guys now."

"And they're impeding with our work efforts so therefore that means they're opposing us. _They_ are the bad guys, do you see my logic here?" Cale tried a different tact, spelling it out more clearly so she'd let him clarify why 'Kujuurou Sasake' needed an exception in that law.

"Stop coming up with excuses, they're just ignorant humans," she barked. She didn't like this at all, she'd hoped to avoid becoming hunted by their government, especially since they existed to protect everyone. Fighting amongst themselves was just an extra complication that no one was going to have time for with whatever else the creepy gates dumped out on them next.

By then, the police officers had begun to yell for the vigilantes to stop running and to surrender their weaponry. Cale gave an annoyed growl and gripped his sword in a possessive hand. Ignorant humans or not, no one tried to take his baby and lived to tell the tale. Much to his disgruntlement, Kayura latched onto the back of his helmet and towed him off by force before he had a chance to slip back into Dark, Evil and Creepy Warlord mode.

"Come on Kayura, this is stupid!" complained the man as he was dragged away from one confrontation after another by the back of his head.

"Stop! Or I'll shoot!" called another officer, pulling out his pistol.

"Hey! They have guns!" Cale cried, seeing that and becoming so man he could have hopped about in pure fury. "That is NOT fair! Why do they get guns but no one else?"

"Shut up and keep moving," she grit out from between clenched teeth, keeping her head down.

A loud bang echoed as a gun fired and the crowed started screaming. There was panic and running in the streets as pedestrians scrambled and pushed for safety but they didn't move fast enough. Someone cried out almost a split second after Cale heard something ping off his armor. His head turned and his eyes went wide, able to tell quite easily that the officer's shots had ricocheted off the hard plates of his armor and hit a bystander that had nothing to do with any of it.

"Kayura!" he grabbed her arm, indicating to the wounded woman. The officers didn't seem to notice.

"Shit!" she cursed. "I should have realized. HEY!" she shouted at the men that still had all their guns pointed at them. "Stop firing!" Another volley of shots resounded as the intended targets had stopped moving for a few moments, making it easier to lock on. Within seconds, more people were falling and the screaming more than doubled in pitch and decibel, even though at least half of the bullets hit solid surfaces and stopped harmlessly.

"Stop SHOOTING!" shouted Cale, absolutely infuriated. "What do you idiots need, a sign? You're killing people!" Unfortunately, it was difficult to make himself heard over the massive noise their guns made.

He could not believe that this was happening. He was trying so hard to make up for the evil things he had done and all the thousands of people he had killed and now like a nightmare, it was turning against him. He was here to protect them from evil beyond their scope of reality and they turned on him, some sick twist of fate making him responsible for more innocents harmed. Was his sword even worth the inadvertent death toll?

The wind was picking up more and Cale had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next. Another gate was going to open onto jam packed streets, releasing kami only knows what on the thousands of people around it. He just hoped that whatever it was, it could absorb bullets instead of having them glance off it and onto those nearby. That was if the stupid police even stuck around that long, which from their past demonstrations of intelligence, he strongly doubted.

Fortunately for the populace, their law enforcement officers ceased fire before there were too many casualties. Kayura was relieved to see that very few people required assistance to move. Maybe no one had died from that temporary (she hoped) lapse in the officers' judgment. Her efforts to believe in the good of humanity may not have died a strangled and mutilated death after all but she didn't have time to look and double check that.

The next gate appeared at that moment, announced by a monstrous thundering sound. Debris began to fall as a massive opening smashed buildings out of it's way, thrusting and pushing, causing buildings to fall on other buildings and they tumbled around the city like dominoes. Another gate, just like the ones they had seen before, solidified before their eyes, the runes in the giant, cold stone slabs glowing white, before they vanished in the ensuing mist that rolled out from the entrance and down the dais steps in thick clouds.

The bearer of the dark armor wasn't the faintest bit taken by surprise when the previously brazen police force did indeed turn tail and bolt for their lives. He had known it would happen from the very start but the fact that they had the nerve to do it anyway still pissed him off. Better sense was quick to make itself heard, saying that the humans were better off running because they wouldn't have been able to fight anything that came out anyway. Fewer meat shields crowding the area and getting in his way was a good thing, he just couldn't shake off his indignation that they seemed to care so little.

"Oh thank kami," Kayura sighed in relief as the surrounding crowds of people cleared out of the way with record breaking speed, though perhaps a few suffered trampling injuries. "Maybe people will start to take our presence as a warning instead of a threat." It was a pipe dream, she knew that but everyone is entitled to have hope.

Cale couldn't help the snort that emerged at that comment. "You're asking for intelligence," he reminded, pulling out his nodachi that the police had sought to confiscate to fanatically, grumbling as he did so. "And that requires a miracle, which we don't get very often. Besides Kay, no one ever appreciates heroes or vigilantes until they are dead or locked away and even if they came back to life or were released, they fast return to disliking them." It was a long, trying and thankless job and Cale had seen that many times. In comic books but Kayura had no way of knowing that.

"So don't die because I'll bring you back to life just to kill you again if you leave me to deal with this mess by myself," Kayura threatened. Her eyes were focused on the fog surrounding the gate, hands holding her kusari gama.

"I feel so loved," he said dryly. "Stop it Kay, you're choking me with the sap."

"Oh you shut up or I'll choke you with this chain," she muttered and then pointed to the arch. "Look, over there." A dim light could be seen in the fog, either something without much power or very far in.

Cale arched an eyebrow. "The hell?" he asked. "Do we get to fight killer flashlights now?" He couldn't contain his sarcasm at that point in the night or more like he was done bothering.

"There are more," she blinked, not bothering to answer his dry commentary. Many more little bright lights had appeared in the mist, getting clearer before a large looming shadow came up behind them. It morphed and shifted shape ominously, like a jellyfish of momentous proportions, not exactly Kayura's dream opponent.

"What in the name of Talpa's purple hair?" Cale stared, wide eyed. Whatever this new enemy was, it was massive. That was about when something shot out of the mist at such a velocity that he could hardly see it but he felt it graze his armor with the sound like a saw blade hitting steel. "_Shit_! It fires projectiles!" he yelped, dodging to the side.

There was a buzzing sound and then more bright streaks blasted out, one plunking right smack into Kayura's armored chest plate. "What…" she asked in astonishment, looking down at the little white smear that had failed to so much as scratch her armor. It flickered feebly. Around the helmet, she managed to get a closer look and then she gasped. "It… it's a fairy!" she said as she peeled the not so fortunate creature off her front. It twitched and shined unsteadily in her hand, obviously going into shock from the impact. It was mostly human in body shape, with the exception of how tiny and delicate it was, with a certain grace that was more insect-like. Sheer hornet wings were bent and broken from the collision. Moreover, the bedraggled and broken thing was oozing something like blood, except that it was silverish and shiny.

"Wow, would you look at that," Cale remarked, head tilted curiously.

It was at that moment that a fairy smacked into him like a bug on a windshield, squishing itself. Naturally he didn't bother with detaching it, wearing the gooey light bulb like a badge. More fairies shot out of the gate and within seconds Cale, who was a bigger target than Kayura, had acquired more badges than a five star general. His dark brown and red armor was lit up like an ailing Christmas tree as a result. He surveyed the shiny substance that was dripping in rivulets down him with great dislike. His armor was going to need a trip through the automated car wash.

"Kamikaze insects. Great. You dragged me out of a bar and made me stay sober to come face something that's so stupid it slams into things and commits hari kari. OW! The fucker STUNG me!" he shouted out in shock and annoyance. One had landed on his helmet and quite purposefully bit him right on the honker.

Kayura laughed and offered a shrug, not really caring. "Well, you were insulting them, you earned it. Other than that, they seem harmless." Maybe they didn't have to worry about killing these. She didn't think there were enough bug zappers in the entire country of Japan to handle them.

"Harmless?" Cale's voice had gone weird and clogged up, his nose already swollen to twice its normal size. "These damn di'gs are't just stupid, they're vi'dictive!"

Kayura glanced over to see why he sounded so odd and once she saw his predicament, burst into convulsive laughter, which was only encouraged by another bug smacking into the side of his helmet. Cale then looked like he had an LED earring. All he was missing was a star for the top of his head and the glowering winter seasonal could have passed for a Rudolph-Christmas Tree hybrid. The thought had Kayura cackling so hard that she fell flat on her ass.

Cale's eye twitched as he struggled to see around his ever enlarging nose. It was ruining the effect of his evil glare from top to bottom and only serving to piss him off all the more. "It's not fuddy!" his speech was becoming increasingly difficult to understand as if he were pinching his nose shut, which was anything but intimidating.

"I beg to differ," wheezed Kayura. "It's the most fucking hysterical thing I've ever seen in my life!"

Cale growled, beginning to peel the insect things off his armor. "I ca't believe this," he muttered, his peculiar, pinched voice reaching the pitch of an irate squirrel rather than a powerful and very angry warlord. "I shou'd have come i'to baddle wid a can of raid a'd a fwyswatter, wou'd have worked better."

Whatever deities existed were having their nights' entertainment at his expense because that was when his luck took yet another turn for the worst. No sooner had he made that bitter comment than the rest of the fairy swarm emerged from the gate and the armors gave out, vanishing once more. Cale gaped in wordless horror as he found himself at the mercy of the Biting Shithead Fairy Swarms, utterly overwhelmed and rendered momentarily motionless by the sheer number of them.

Kayura shook off her own share of the dazed when she got stung on the arm and flinched. "Ow!" she smacked the fairy by instinct, knocking it onto the ground where she smashed it under her shoe for good measure. She didn't get along well with bugs, she'd spent too long cooped up in the Nether Realm with Dais and his crawley, bitey army.

That was when she was roughly scooped up under Cale's beefy arm and dragged out of harm's way like a ragdoll, with significantly less care than he had displayed when rescuing Satsuke. He carried her inside a store and shut the door, putting a wall between them and the Biting Flashes. A glance back told him the owners and employees had abandoned it when the gate had arrived which was fortunate for all those involved.

Kayura just sagged to the floor, staring out through the window, pale and wide eyed at the clouds and buzzing swarms of small creatures, flying out of the gate. "Cale… I don't know what is going on and I have no idea what to do," she whispered. She felt stupid and helpless, two things that were never a healthy combination in a woman's emotional boat. Tears were imminent and tears with Kayura equaled a tornado of mayhem that Cale cringed at the thought of ever enduring again.

"Well," Cale was still looking back at the store but he paused to glance at her with a grin. "I have an idea." They were standing in a sporting goods store and Cale was pointing to a big display if tennis rackets. "Dey are't fwyswatters bud id's dah same cobcept."

* * *

Sekhmet walked to work early the next morning with an extra bounce in his step. He had been at the radio station until late the previous night but he didn't seem to mind that his boss had called him back in. The gleeful grin that lent him an even madder look than he usually had sent people running as he practically pranced to work. No doubt they all assumed he was an asylum escapee that was about to go on a homicidal rampage.

He was aware of the terrified people but it couldn't puncture his good mood. He knew exactly what he was going to talk about on the radio, he had his victims all picked out and lined up for torment. The subjects? Mostly Cale. Payback was a bastard.

The man had shared his adventures from the previous night when the group had finally had a chance to regroup and talk. It was sad and yet utterly hilarious, the events that the other warlord had described to them and the opportunity was just too much to pass up. He'd say an anonymous tipper (which, in an odd way, was true) had informed him of what he'd seen and heard. Then the autumn seasonal would take it from there and just _try_ to hide his outright joy at how laughable it all was.

He practically strutted into the radio station where he waved to his boss before going to bounce directly into the sound booth. He couldn't wait to get started. He didn't pay attention when the other man said he needed a word with him, he simply flung open the door to stride in and then stopped dead in his tracks. Disbelief and perhaps a tiny hint of worry crossed his face.

"Damn," escaped from his mouth before he could regain his composure. Even as he thought to sneak back out and call in sick, hoping no one else had witnessed his arrival, two hands were pushing him the rest of the way into the sound booth.

"What are you standing and staring for? Get in there and bicker," ordered his boss, shoving him at Keira.

The girl sat with a coffee cup in her hand, smiling at Sekhmet even though she wasn't supposed to be there. It was _Monday_, damn it, he had a whole five days of peace before he was subjected to the coffee drinker again. Added to the fact was her smile which only served to make the borderline insane genius all the more paranoid. "Hello Sekky!" she waved cheerily, setting her mug down as if nothing were out of place. "They're going to have us work together more often because our discussion last time got such high ratings. Isn't it great? We can spend more time together!"

The disgruntled warlord could only manage a feeble, one word protest. "What?" He was too preoccupied to even notice the horrible nickname. Suddenly, the job that he'd happily skipped through town to begin, seemed far less appealing. He had to work with the coffee demon? What was this, some possibly existing deity's opinion of his torment methods? Revenge for trying to have fun at his teammates' expense?

"She's now your full time partner," his boss said. "We were very fortunate that she agreed to do it."

"SHE agreed? What about MY opinion?" Sekhmet squawked. Keira wasn't that bad but more than anything, he feared his 'companions' finding out he worked with a woman. They would either enter matchmaker mode (or in Cale's case, hooker-buying-mode), or tease him perpetually that he should make a move.

"You're already working this schedule with no problem," his boss replied with a roll of his beady little dark eyes. "Now get in there, you have five minutes until we go live."

The door slammed shut behind him and the green haired warlord found himself locked in with his doom. He could only stare at Keira and her smile as she happily took in the fact that he'd worn a short sleeved shirt to work. That meant she got an eyeful of his arm muscles, which there was plenty of. They stared at each other for a few minutes, waiting to see who would break the silence. Slowly, Sekhmet edged to his chair, staying well out of reach. He acted more like he was facing his death by a venomous flying monkey than sitting down opposite a perfectly normal young woman.

"What's wrong?" Keira asked, giggling when he jumped. "You're awful jumpy. Got a nervous conscience?" she teased. "Relax, I won't bite. At least, not unless you want me to," she gave him a wink for good measure.

Sekhmet flushed pink with horror, mentally groaning that he had somehow gotten stuck with a female Cale. This was definitely punishment, whether it was for past or future sins, he wasn't sure. Then on three hours of sleep, he had to sit with Keira for five. Officially he decided that if he hadn't been insane before then he was going to be by the end of this shift.

Keira gave that silly laugh again when he blushed, tilting her head to look at him. "Aw, you're so _cute_ when you turn red!"

"Shush," he grumbled sulkily. For a moment, he wished she was scared of him like everyone else and then hastily regretted it. That was too depressing. Her giggle came again, a noise which he found oddly cute and the fact that he liked it only made him more humiliated and his blush darkened.

"No," she grinned. "I might have to find out what else can make you blush."

She put her chin on her palm, head tilted to the side to look him over. He really wasn't bad, but then again she'd always been told that she had odd taste in men. She liked his punkish green hair and his hazel eyes, heavily hooded. He had a permanently wild eyed expression that didn't particularly lend him beauty but it _did_ give him character, which she thought was great. His evil grin was just icing on the cake. Forget radio, why wasn't this guy on TV? Or off as a rock star, popping cocaine like candy?

Sekhmet did not like the sound of that, not one little bit. What was the demon woman plotting? What he hated even more than not knowing what she would do to him was that he was embarrassed and once he was embarrassed, his vast repertoire of smart ass retorts were blocked off by the last surviving shreds of his hormonal responses and he was reduced to a stuttering idiot. That would be why he simply avoided her gaze, red faced and mysteriously unable to talk. He decided it was better than staring like a mute retard.

His situation just kept getting worse. Keira both felt bad that she had upset him and found it sweet that he was bright pink and fast turning crimson the longer she looked at him. Temptation was fast becoming too much to bear and she finished her coffee and set the mug down before double checking through the glass to see that no one was looking. Then without warning, she transferred herself to Sekhmet's lap, where she looked up at him with a bright smile.

"Ack!" the man gave a yelp of shock, arms immediately flying up and he went stiff in his chair at so much physical contact. "Keira! What are you doing? Get off me!" He had himself plastered to the back of his chair, nearly tipping it over backwards, which would have only put him in a more compromising position with her on top of him.

"Oh shush," she chuckled. "I don't weight that much, do I?" She didn't mind him raising his arms though, it put them right up for her to evaluate. "Wow." She reached up and grabbed them, jaw dropping at the size of his biceps. "Why the hell do you ever wear long sleeves? All the guys I know with arms like this wear them like girls wear make up!"

Sekhmet was Christmas colors by that point, his face flaming red as the Wildfire armor to contrast his shock of uncontrollable green hair. He was so embarrassed by her touching that he could scarcely speak. His downfall came when he was too busy wiggling to get away and she was too preoccupied with groping his muscles that they missed the warning that they were about to go live. The five second count down fell on deaf ears as Keira's hands ran up his arms to his shoulders and then inevitably to his green hair. Unaware that they were broadcasting and oblivious to the frantic gesticulating of their boss from the other side of the glass, their audiences were treated to some very ominous noises.

"Mmm," Keira said and giggled.

"Keira," a half whine came from her cohost, then there was a startled yelp. "Hey, that tickles!"

"Shh, you like it."

Cale, sitting near his radio to listen to DJ Venom's snarky daily news report, was now upright and staring at it in disbelief. There was no way that was actually Sekhmet. Their little virgin naga hanyou that didn't even realize women existed would _never_… "Holy crap! Sekhmet's not only got a woman, he's getting frisky on LIVE radio! The little shit DOES have balls!" the flabbergasted man said to no one in particular, just his empty apartment.

"Quit touching me," the DJ protested, though his voice was oddly deep.

"No, it feels nice," she protested. "Come on, admit it, you're enjoying it."

Sekhmet gave a groan but it didn't sound like a bad one. "Okay," he sighed. "I'll admit it." He was unable to get the willpower to fish her hands out of his hair. It _did_ feel pleasant for her to pet him and her fingernails got right to the scalp.

Cale was open mouthed, wanting to run and yet unable to tear himself away. It was horrifying and disturbing, thinking of his teammate doing things with women. Especially when he had to wonder what the woman was under the influence of to be agreeable to it. It was too much like watching a train wreck, horrible but he just couldn't look away.

"Told you so," she grinned with triumph. However, that was when she finally caught sight of their boss, still waving like a lunatic to catch their attention and pointing to the red light on the wall that meant they were on air. Keira squeaked in horror and slunk back to her seat, having the decency to blush as red as her badly tousled looking cohost.

"My apologies," she cleared her throat, still pink. "I'm tactile and DJ Venom has very soft hair."

The man across from her also looked like he'd just been caught in the middle of doing something x rated, with as big as his eyes were combined with the distinctive style she'd lent his hair. "Head rapist," he muttered sourly, trying to tidy up the mess she'd made of him. He was still cherry colored, using his clawed fingers to straighten everything back out, though his naturally unruly hair would have none of it.

"Geeze, making me nervous you were going to have sex on air," muttered Cale. "I would have hit you for it." He wanted Sekhmet to get laid, but that did not mean he wanted to know about it.

She just giggled more. "And he's cute when he's flustered."

"Be quiet, blasted woman!" Sekhmet was about ready to duct tape her mouth closed if she didn't drop it.

"Ohh, he's going redder!" she was practically cackling by this point as she evaded swipes from across the desk.

"At any rate," there was a twitch above Sekhmet's eye. "Higher authorities have decided I needed 'help' so now my insane, touchy-feely gaijin cohost is back to torment me, every. Single. Fucking. Day."

"Yes, but he forgets to add that he forgives me because we're friends," Keira piped up helpfully.

"I, we, what?" spluttered the indignant man. He had missed a memo somewhere along the lines.

Cale was grinning, where he sat listening to all of this. Evidently he didn't have to make up for lost time. Sekhmet had already found someone else to annoy him and the fact that it was a woman was even better. Cale could not have imagined a superior scenario. If he was lucky, the woman would lay him and solve a few of the younger warlord's issues. He had long been convinced that Sekhmet's problems came from the fact that he was over four hundred years old and had never gotten any. That just wasn't healthy!

"We're friends," she reiterated patiently. "Or at least we will be soon, right?" she smiled over at him. The man on the other side of the desk was twitching chronically. He didn't seem to have a reply to that so Keira moved on. "Anyway!" she said, in her usual good mood. "Hello Tokyo! It's a lovely morning, isn't it?"

He was quick to snap himself back to attention. He had recalled what he had wanted to talk about and he pushed his concerns about the unlucky morning aside and returned his attention to what he had originally been so excited to announce. That meant stopping Keira before she could return to some other subject that was highly uncomfortable for the ancient virgin she was paired off with. "A lovely morning, yes, maybe," he said. "But I doubt the people of Ebisu can say the same. They're still reeling after what happened last night."

"Ebisu?" she asked, not having expected the rapid change of subject. "What happened there?"

"I'm surprised you haven't heard. Where do you live, in a cave?" Sekhmet was returning to his usual self, albeit slowly. It was hard for him to recover from her brand of teasing. "Another mysterious archway appeared in the middle of town last night."

"You're joking!" she was just staring at him, completely blank. "The last two were in Shinjuku though!"

"Yes, yes they were," Sekhmet bypassed the obvious statement without commenting. "Do you recall those armored vigilantes that appeared to combat the creatures as they emerged in a valiant attempt to rescue the innocent?"

Cale was all puffed up with pride as his companion said this. Yes, that was him, a valiant savior. He was there for the common man, to defend them from things they couldn't imagine. His grin was stretched across his entire face, displaying straight, bright white teeth, imaginary tail wagging. He would have to give Sekhmet a treat for this, though that brought up the dilemma of what snakes liked as treats. Scratching his chin for a moment, the winter seasonal decided he'd probably like hamsters, though he didn't see the appeal in them, snakes likes to eat them, right?

"Yes, I remember them!" Keira said excitedly through the radio. "Were they out again?"

"Indeed they were," Sekhmet smirked evilly, finally getting to the good part. "In a way, anyhow."

She paused and tilted her head, though the listeners couldn't see it. "What are you trying to say?" she asked.

"I got a report from an anonymous first hand witness," Sekhmet's smile kept getting wider and more frightening. "Only two arrived at the scene last night."

"Only two?" Keira looked worried. "Which ones?"

"Mudpie," that was his codename for Cale, whose armor was brown and red. "And Banana Boat." That was poor Kayura, stuck in Anubis' old armor with the flashy yellow highlights. Cale wasn't so sure Sekhmet would be getting a treat by that point, eyes narrowed at the radio as if smashing it would reverberate through the radio waves and hit the man wherever he was hiding.

"What about Christmassy?" her eyes were wide with worry. "He was my favorite! I hope he wasn't hurt."

Sekhmet rolled his eyes. Christmassy? Oh right, because his armor was red and green. He'd have to repaint the damn thing now. "I'm sure he's fine, Faden. He probably just has a job and couldn't go that night."

"Those stupid psycho unicorns had better not have eaten him," Keira was still sulking.

He reached over and patted her fingers awkwardly, as if touching her was somehow rude or perhaps he would catch germs. "Don't let it worry you, he'll be back soon, you'll see." He coughed and continued, "As I was saying, apparently the vigilantes got into a skirmish with the police last night as they attempted to confiscate the one's sword. Don't ask me how he would have used it though, he was short and fat and the sword was longer than he was tall. They didn't have anything to worry about."

Keira snorted in laughter. "Fat? Oh dear, you'd better be careful. He might come kick your ass for that comment."

Cale was the one twitching after that comment. Short? Fat? There wasn't any fat on his body, _anywhere_. He was all muscle! That little shit was going to get HURT for that!

"Pfft," Sekhmet didn't seem concerned. "What can a little pudgy hero-wannabe do to me? I've got more muscle in one pinky."

"Well," Keira tilted her head and grinned. "You _do_ have nice arms."

Sekhmet turned red, he hadn't intended for THAT kind of comment to come out of this. "Er, thanks?" he wasn't sure what to do with it. As fast as possible, he got back on topic. "I guess they felt some moral obligation because the short, fat guy also seems to be mentally retarded from the behavior witnessed that night."

Cale was so infuriated by this point that he broke off a piece of the table in his hands. "Fuck," he glanced down. "Stupid snake! You made me break my table!" That was it, the little shithead was in for a pummeling.

"What we've been told is that he was talking to his sword like it was a living, thinking being," Sekhmet said.

"With everything that's been happening lately?" Keira snorted and dryly commented, "I wouldn't be surprised if it _was_ a living and thinking being."

"Shush, you're missing the point. When the gate appeared, the cops ran off but our dear Mudpie and Banana Boat stayed behind to fight. That is, until fairies came pouring out."

"Fairies?" Keira said in astonishment. "You mean the tiny ones that fit in the palm of your hand? It just gets weirder and weirder," she laughed. "I wonder what we'll see next. A Minotaur?"

"Don't jinx it," grumbled Cale. He didn't want to face one of _those_ without his sword, armor or no armor he'd end up as a crunchy snack.

"I have no idea," Sekhmet was thinking roughly the same thing as Cale but didn't dare comment. "There was an entire swarm of the things, each about as big as an apple, buzzing around like hornets. Of course, what did our brave retard do? He stole tennis rackets from a nearby sporting goods store and began smacking them down!"

"I did not steal them!" Cale protested vehemently to an empty room and a radio that didn't care one way or another. "I left money on the table to pay for them!"

"Isn't it nice that they hire people like that?" Sekhmet asked Keira. "I mean, it would be if the safety of numerous civilians didn't rely on him. Honestly, what were they thinking? They're asking for lawsuits! Do you know he broke a window when he batted one straight through the glass?"

"That was an accident, I wanted to see it get smashed on a windshield," glowered the very irritated warlord of darkness. What was so bad about trying to turn irksome insects into go? He'd been experimenting to see how far he could make them splatter, damn it. Cale hadn't had enough toys as a child

"Attacking fairies with a tennis racket," Keira was still in disbelief over this, rubbing the point between her eyes with consternation. "Why bother? I thought fairies were supposed to be good."

"One of them stung his nose," Sekhmet was trying and failing to hide the glee in his voice, especially since in his mind's eye he could still see Cale as he walked into the apartment with a nose as big as his over-sized fist. "He looked like a troll. It was swollen up to three times its original size and poked straight out of his helmet." Okay so maybe that last bit was an exaggeration but not by a lot.

"Okay, that does it," Cale slammed a hand down on the table and cracked the piece of furniture beyond repair. "SHIT!" Now he had to buy a new table.

"Oh ho!" she was laughing at the mental image. "So the special needs vigilante has a potato nose now!"

By then, Cale could only sit in shock, unable to reconcile that he was actually hearing this. What was this, payback for things he'd done in the past? What had happened to valiant savior? Now he was a short, fat, retarded idiot with a big nose! A chronic tic was developing in Cale's neck, completely furious. What else should he have done? Those stupid little buzzing lanterns were a menace to society. What if one had gotten into someone's pantry or someone bumped into one of their nests? They'd be stung to death. And Sekhmet was sitting there calling him a retard! He was a dork at best.

"That brings up an important question," he mused. "Do abused and mistreated fairies appeal to PETA or do they have legal rights like humans?"

"What would the People Eating Tasty Animals want with fairies?" Keira smirked. "They can't taste very good, insects are mostly exoskeleton."

"Maybe they dip them in chocolate," Sekhmet said. "I heard they do that with crickets."

How did he know that? The television in the radio station break room held little interest for him, nor had he any idea how to operate it. He'd been quite content to tune out the mindless soap operas that typically played, without the slightest clue of how to turn it off short of ramming his sword through it. Tempting but he wasn't willing to get fired just yet. He had gone on like that until one day, someone had let the remote slip down inside the couch cushions before he had gotten there. Without having any idea of what he had done, he sat on the couch and more or less butt dialed the television. It switched over to National Geographic and had things had gone from there. He had learned many strange and interesting facts since then, though some of what he had seen had both traumatized and disgusted him.

"Eww," Keira said in disgust, wrinkling her nose up. "That's repulsive! Who ruins perfectly good chocolate with _bugs_?"

Sekhmet didn't know, he didn't even like chocolate. He couldn't eat the stuff without becoming off the wall hyper, bouncing around like a maniac and completely losing his composure. However, he chuckled at the look on her face and then stopped abruptly, surprised that such a sound had just come out of him. "I'm sorry," he shrugged nonchalantly, even though he was slightly warm faced for reasons he couldn't have explained. "I'm not the one that came up with it."

Keira waved him off, though she gave him an odd look from the corner of her eye. Was he blushing again? A closer look confirmed that yes, he was rather pink, which made her wonder why. It wasn't as if she'd done anything to him, not directly. Maybe he was sneaking peaks down her shirt, she hadn't realized how low cut it was until she'd gotten home with it. That had to be it.

The rest of their shift passed with minimal smart comments from DJ Venom. He seemed to be worn out from his previous shift, delivering less bite than he usually did. Their boss gave him a lecture for not being himself when they came out for break, saying they wouldn't make adequate ratings if he didn't get his act together. Sekhmet listened with a sour face and Keira pretended not to be paying attention as the Cheetah chased down its prey on television in front of her. In reality, she was plotting.

When they went back in, Sekhmet had to do the traffic report. There wasn't a lot to discuss since the roads were relatively calm but there was always _something_ going on in downtown Shinjuku. That would be when Keira activated her plan, the sneaky devil she was. The warning should have been noticeable from the way she grinned at Sekhmet as he spoke even as she tapped her fingers on the other side of their equipment. Her finger kept mashing the censor button, making their audience think he was spewing four letter words like spit even as a record few actual curses escaped his mouth. She thought it was funnier when they were bleeped out anyhow, never mind that the listening masses missed important words and even entire sentences.

"The traffic looks good today, few accidents. Some good drivers actually do exist," Sekhmet said. It came out sounding more like, "*bleep* traffic *bleep bleep bleep* accidents. *bleep bleep* drivers *bleep bleep*." And Keira's grin just kept getting wider and wider.

* * *

"Mister Yamanouchi!"

Sekhmet paused as he exited the sound booth at the end of his shift, caught off guard by his proper name as well as his boss' tone.

"What was the meaning of all that cursing? When I said to get your act together, I did NOT mean to out swear a sailor!" the red faced man stared up through thick glasses.

"Cursing?" he scratched the back of his head. "What do you mean? I thought I was much better about that than normal." Apparently radio hosts had a PG rating ceiling and weren't allowed to drop the F bomb every two minutes. He had found that out late in the game.

"**BETTER**?" he roared, surprising the warlord that such a voice could come out of a man so short. "How can you say such an absurd thing? Miss Faden had to censor near HALF of what you said in the past two hours!"

He opened his mouth and then shut it, everything clicking. All it had taken was Keira's name and he understood perfectly what had just happened. His expression turned dark. "FADEN!" he turned, calling her by her surname in a tone that left no room for excuses.

"Sekky, you can just call me Keira," she said calmly, joining them. She had her coffee mug in hand, though it was finally empty. He had lost count of how many mugs she had drunk.

"Eh?" he gave her an uneasy sideways look. "No way – wait, who gave you permission to call me by that ridiculous pet name?" He had finally noticed what she was calling him, it would seem.

"Pet name, huh?" she sidled closer to him, her grip tipping up on one side in a way that made the warlord uneasy in an entirely different way. "That wasn't one, but I can give you a pet name if you'd like… cuppy cake."

"_Eh_?" Sekhmet didn't get it but he had the strongest feeling she had misinterpreted what he had just said. It was his fault too, since his grasp on Modern Japanese was loose at best and he had mistaken 'pet' name for 'nick' name, which both have the same approximate meaning but the former implies a more intimate use, giving Keira an implication he had not intended for at _all_.

"Erm," their boss was glancing between the two with worry. "I don't suppose you could save this discussion for a more private place?"

"_What_ discussion?" the warlord was catching on that something very bad had happened and he was turning red, though he still didn't know why.

"Your personal one," he replied evenly but with distaste. He did not need to witness his employees getting cozy.

"There's nothing PERSONAL about it!" he squawked in protest. How had this happened to him?

"Please mister Yamanouchi, I'm not the type of man that is a porn connoisseur. So do us all a favor and _make_ it private."

All he got in return was a blank look. "…ok?" '_What the hell is a porn_?' Sekhmet wondered, feeling very lost and worried about his language skills. He needed to spend more time becoming familiar with this modern world before he got into real trouble.

Keira giggled. "You're a lot naughtier than I would have expected."

"Yes, yes, so?" Sekhmet would say anything to make this conversation go away, even though he inadvertently made both Keira and his employer think that he was either interested in Pornography or an active participant. She had gotten him off track from his original mission and that was to ask her why she had been having fun with the control panel. "Why the hell did you censor me so much?"

"Censoring?" she smiled innocuously but Sekhmet could just imagine her horns sticking out, cracking whatever halo she might have had with their sheer size. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you made everyone think I was cursing myself blue in the face!" his eye was twitching once again and he came to the conclusion that exposure to this woman was bad for his health.

"Oh, that?" she laughed and waved him off. "It's funnier. Besides, you were ignoring me, being a dud and giving a semi normal traffic report. You were still being boring and I thought I'd help by livening it up. We can talk about coffee tomorrow and give a real reason for you to have everything censored," she teased.

'_Don't kill her, don't kill her, don't kill her,'_ Sekhmet chanted in his head as his blood pressure skyrocketed through the roof.

"Good grief," the other man said, taking over and casting worried glances at his newest DJ, who seemed to be going into an epileptic fit. "Miss Faden, you mustn't do that anymore."

"Ok," she gave a childish pout. "If you say so. Party poopers."

"Geh, I'm going home," Sekhmet said as he gave her one last frustrated look, turning to grab his coat and depart. He'd had enough of the mad house for one day. That bottle of Saki was coming out from under the sink, too.

"Oh, wait Sekky!" Keira called as he turned to leave. She wasn't done with it just yet though.

"Don't call me that!" said the indignant warlord, turning pink again as he dragged his coat on.

"Fine, cuppy cake," she smirked. This guy was just too easy to get to and even though she wanted to be his friend, she couldn't help the impulse to push his buttons every now and again.

Sekhmet just glowered evilly, humiliation once again blocking him off from his smart replies. "Shut up," he said and then immediately, he could have hit himself. He sounded like a moron.

"Make me," she challenged, jutting her chin out stubbornly.

"Uh…" Sekhmet had a moment of indecision. How exactly did one shut a woman up? Cale was simple, all he had to do was punch his front teeth in. Kayura he never dared to shush and the other warlords he rarely had anything to do with. Still blushing, he settled for reaching over and clamping a hand over her mouth.

Keira paused and glanced down at the warm hand that had was firmly holding her jaw in place so she couldn't talk any longer. This guy seemed incredibly naïve, had he missed that hint completely? That sucked, she had been hoping to make him go red again. She wasn't too upset though since this opened up new opportunities to weird him out and a chance to use new tactics from her arsenal. She couldn't speak but she could do other things.

Sekhmet frowned, eyeing her worriedly. She had an odd expression, one eerily similar to how Cale was before he did something weird. A tell tale gleam appeared in her eye, foretelling trouble right before something wet and squishy touched his hand, oozing and smearing across his fingers. It was a sensation creepy enough that even the centuries old, battle hardened Bushi warrior let loose a scream like he was a little girl.

Keira giggled, pleased to the point of being smug and bit his hand right after licking it.

"Eugh! Crazy woman, what the fuck was that?" he jumped back in outrage, hair standing up as he pulled his arm back protectively and began wiping the offended limb off on his jeans, all but hopping in disgust. "What are you, a dog?" he demanded, too humiliated for words. Something about that had both been upsetting and nice, which upset him even more. How could he have LIKED that?

She just chuckled, pulling her jacket on calmly and buttoning it up. "What? I wanted your hand off my face." She liked it when he got flustered. It was funny and cute, in a peculiar way. "Come on, let's go grab drinks."

He was at a loss for words. Exactly how insane was this creature? Then he realized that she was asking him to go to the bar with her again, which reminded him of how he couldn't have his friends finding out that he was out on the town with a woman. That in turn brought up the memory of their easily misconstrued bad start that morning, sending his blood rushing back for his face.

"No!" there was no way in hell, she couldn't have paid him.

She blinked at the red face and chuckled. "Aw, poor baby's embarrassed." Either she understood why or didn't care. "We could go to your place then."

He could have died and as a matter of fact, he was convinced that he was about to. "No no no no," he protested quickly, backing away. "That's even worse." He didn't need his companions to find out he'd taken a girl home. Cale would just think he had wanted to finish whatever the gross old man thought he had been doing that morning. Knowing his luck they'd be stationed in his apartment, lying in wait.

"Okay, we'll go to mine," she said cheerfully without skipping a beat. Not waiting for him to agree, she grabbed his hand and began to lead him off.

Sekhmet couldn't help feeling that he was being led to his doom. His situation just kept getting worse and worse. Keira was insane in all the ways that utterly petrified him and he couldn't seem to shake her off no matter how hard he tried. It was like how a hawk would snatch up a snake to take it and kill it, except that he wasn't sure what this hawk would do with the snake. The only thing his horrified mind could come up with was rape, a laughable thought.

Keira glanced back and saw the look on his face. "Relax," she chuckled. "I won't tease you anymore… tonight anyway. I just want to be friends, that involves hanging out."

Yes, that solidified his diagnosis. She was completely off her rocker. Still, he didn't fight her pull. One might have been led to believe that he didn't mind her as much as he acted.


End file.
